Coronavirus: 4th straight day of double-digit case increases in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan reported its highest increase of new novel coronavirus cases in nearly eight weeks ahead of the Thanksgiving long weekend.

Health officials said there were 22 new cases in the daily update on Friday, with the overall total for the province growing to 2,034 since the first case was reported in March. This is the largest increase since Aug. 15, which saw 25 infections.

According to a press release, most of the new cases are located in the Saskatoon zone with five, while there are four each in north central and central east, three in central west and the rest spread evenly between the south central, Regina and far north east zones.

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

Twenty-six more people have recovered, bringing total recoveries to 1,871.

There are currently 139 active cases in the province, health officials said. Active cases are total cases less recoveries and deaths.

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

According to a press release, 2,330 COVID-19 tests were performed on Thursday in Saskatchewan. To date, 209,560 tests have been carried out in the province.

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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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