The province has announced that as of March 21 Saskatchewan has 17 new positive cases and one presumptive positive case, bringing the total to 44 cases.
Of the 44, 25 cases are confirmed and 19 cases are presumptive.
By region, the 44 cases include one confirmed and one presumptive case from the north, four presumptive from the central region, 14 confirmed and 4 presumptive from Saskatoon,10 confirmed and eight presumptive from Regina and two presumptive from the south. There have been no deaths recorded so far in the province.
All of the cases (confirmed and presumptive) are 20 years of age and older, with the exception of one case still under investigation. 65 per cent are male, while females make up 35 per cent. Public health officials continue their contact investigation.
At a conference call with media Saturday, chief medical officer Dr.Saqib Shahab shed some further light on the cases in the province. Dr. Shahab noted that all of the new cases are related to either travel or group events.
He noted there was one incidence of an individual who had attended a funeral where people had come from abroad whon had tested positive.
Shaqib also noted that 11 of the cases are linked to a bonspiel in Edmonton attended by front-line Saskatchewan physicians. This represents half of the 22 individuals who attended from Saskatchewan. Those who tested positive are from Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert.
"This is a startling reminder of the risks in gatherings," Dr. Shahab said. "We are not immune to this virus in social settings."
He stressed the importance of quarantining for two weeks after travelling, and stressed the importance well as limiting group events and to not attend any event where you cannot maintain a two-metre distance from one another.
Shahab reminded people that the new normal now was to maintain a distance of two metres apart, and to practice social distancing. Do not touch your eyes nose and mouth when out and about; wash your hands when you get home. For those who travelled, they are to stay home, to not go shopping and to let someone else do the shopping or collect take-out.
Most troubling to Dr. Shahab was that of the 44 cases there are three cases where it has not been easy to establish exposure -- due to no travel, and no attendance at an event. Dr. Shahab was not willing to go so far as to declare there was community transmission in the province yet.
"If those dots are not connected in the next two or three days we will have to confirm that there is community transmission in Saskatchewan."
The province is also stating that the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory (RRPL) now has the ability to do confirmatory testing for COVID-19. That means they can provide faster results and reporting of confirmed cases in the province. There will no longer be the eed to reportion presumptive cases, and it will also speed up the dissemination of results to physicians and individuals tested.
Dr. Jessica Minion from the Roy Romanow Provincial Lab said that as of Friday all positive test results from the lab can be considered confirmed and do not require confirmatory testing at the national microbiology lab. "This will speed up the process of cases being declared presumed to confirmed in the province," Minion said.
The province states in a news release that “from now on we will no longer have to wait for these confirmatory results. Regardless of whether a case is confirmed positive all presumptive cases must remain in self-isolation. The RRPL is processing about 456 COVID-19 tests a day.”
