Coronavirus infections jump over 2,000 in Saskatchewan, active cases at 143

On Thursday, Saskatchewan reported its highest number of new coronavirus cases in close to two weeks.

Health officials said there were 18 new cases in the daily update, with the overall total for the province growing to 2,012 since the first case was reported in March. This is the largest increase since Sept. 26 which had 19 infections.

According to a press release, most of the new cases are located in the Saskatoon zone with six, while there are three in the far northwest, two each in the far northeast, central-east and north-central, and the rest in the northwest, Regina and southeast zones.

In the province, seven people are currently in hospital with COVID-19 — six are receiving inpatient care and one is in intensive care.

Thirteen more people have recovered, bringing total recoveries to 1,845.

There are currently 143 active cases in the province, health officials said. Active cases are total cases less recoveries and deaths.

There have been 24 COVID-19-related deaths in Saskatchewan.

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According to a press release, 1,767 COVID-19 tests were performed on Wednesday in Saskatchewan. To date, 207,230 tests have been carried out in the province.

0:47 Multi-jurisdictional coronavirus outbreak declared in Saskatchewan

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. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus. In some provinces and municipalities across the country, masks or face coverings are now mandatory in indoor public spaces.

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