7th COVID-19 death reported in Saskatchewan, 21 new coronavirus cases

Saskatchewan has recorded its seventh death from COVID-19.

Health officials say a resident in their 60s from the north region who tested positive for the coronavirus has died.

Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer, said he will not reveal the location of where the victim lived as is being done in other provinces.

“There’s no public health purpose served by me disclosing the location of the deaths,” Shahab said.

“We as a government and as a health system have to do our utmost to protect the privacy and confidentiality of people and families who are going through a very difficult time.”

All seven deaths in the province are people 60 years of age or older.

The death comes as the province recorded 21 new cases — the most in one day since May 7.

Sixteen of the new cases are in the far north — nine in La Loche and six in Beauval. Four cases were reported in the north and one in Saskatoon.

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Scott Livingstone, CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Authority, said he is not surprised by the increase in cases in the north.

“We knew we were going to find cases because of the work that’s being done,” Livingstone said, referring to the expanded testing criteria in the region.

“People have to realize this is going to be our norm for months. We will see days of one (case), we will see days of two (cases), but we are going to see case numbers like this come up and down.”

The majority of the 120 active cases in the province — 102 — are in the far north.

Other regions with active cases are the north (11), Saskatoon (five), Regina (one) and the central region (one).

Four people are in hospital in Saskatoon, three who are in intensive care.

Officials said 24 more people have recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 494.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority said the current effective reproductive number (ERN) in the north and far north is 1.87, down from 2.13 on May 12.

Officials said this reflects a slowing of the spread of the virus in both regions.

“I want to caution this number can change,” said Livingstone.

“Given the increased number of far north cases today, we are cautious and we will remain vigilant.”

The ERN is the average number of people a person with the coronavirus is likely to infect, after factoring in the effects of interventions, officials said.

The ERN in the rest of the province is 0.62, down from 0.75 a week ago.

Officials said an ERN consistently below 1.0 means the virus is being managed effectively through personal and public health preventative measures.

Here is a breakdown of total Saskatchewan cases by age:

• 88 people are 19 and under
• 223 people are 20 to 39
• 187 are 40 to 59
• 104 people are 60 to 79
• 18 people are 80 and over

Males make up 49 per cent of the cases, females 51 per cent.

Officials said 339 cases are linked to community contact or mass gatherings, 139 are travel-related, 71 are under investigation by public health and 71 have no known exposure.

Saskatchewan has completed 41,951 tests so far for the virus, up 345 from Tuesday.

Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:

Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.

To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out.

For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.