A new single-day record has been set for new coronavirus cases in Saskatchewan after technical difficulties at the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory.
The tech issues at the lab on Tuesday resulted in “lower-than-expected” case numbers reported Wednesday, according to a press release. The release added nine positive tests were identified and, due to the timing of the reporting of laboratory results, will be counted in Friday’s case numbers.
Health officials said there were 129 new cases in the daily update on Thursday, with the overall total for the province growing to 3,536 since the first case was reported in March. They added one case was determined out-of-province resident and removed from Saskatchewan’s total.
The second-most infections reported in a day is 82, which happened on Oct. 29.
According to a press release, most of the new cases are located in the Saskatoon zone with 55, while there are 30 in north-central, 13 in Regina, 10 in the northwest, six in far northwest, four in central east, two in south-central, and one each in far northeast, central west, southwest and southeast. The regions of five new cases are still pending.
A new high was also set with 877 active cases currently in the province, health officials said. Active cases are total cases less recoveries and deaths.
In the province, 32 people are currently in hospital with COVID-19 — 27 are receiving inpatient care and five are receiving intensive care.
Fifty more people have recovered, bringing total recoveries to 2,634.
There have been 25 COVID-19-related deaths in Saskatchewan.
According to a press release, 2,322 COVID-19 tests were performed on Wednesday in Saskatchewan. To date, 273,520 tests have been carried out in the province.
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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