There are 18 new cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan to report on June 15, bringing the provincial total to 683.
Thirteen of the new cases are in the far north.
Most are connected to a wake on June 10 and a funeral on June 11 that were the subject of a precautionary health advisory issued by the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority and Saskatchewan Health Authority on June 11.
Health officials want to remind the public of the importance of maintaining physical distancing practices to minimize transmission of COVID-19 and for all those who attended these events to immediately self-isolate and self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 for 14 days from the date of attendance.
Three of the new cases are in the Saskatoon region. The other two cases are individuals who tested positive in Saskatchewan, but who live out of province; these cases are under further investigation.
“While our numbers had been lower over the last few days, this increase is a reminder that COVID-19 is still in Saskatchewan,” Saskatchewan chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said. “Large public gatherings increase the risk of transmission. Everyone should continue to take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including physical distancing.”
Of the 683 reported COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan, 41, or six per cent, are considered active. A total of 629 individuals have recovered. Ninety-two per cent of people diagnosed with COVID-19 are considered recovered.
There is currently one person in inpatient care in the north and one person in intensive care in Saskatoon.
The number of cases for southern Saskatchewan remains at 19. Two cases are considered active. There have been 277 cases from the far north, 181 from the Saskatoon area, 112 from the north, 80 from the Regina area and 12 from the central region.
Of the 683 cases in the province, 146 cases are travellers, 409 are community contacts (including mass gatherings), 80 have no known exposures and 48 are under investigation by local public health.
Fifty-two cases are health care workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to health care in all instances.
There have been 104 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
A total of 240 cases are in the 20-39 age range, 207 are in the 40-59 age range, 114 are in the 60-79 age range and 18 are in the 80-plus range.
Fifty-one per cent of the cases are females and 49 per cent are males.
Thirteen deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported.
To date, 56,223 COVID‐19 tests have been performed in Saskatchewan. As of June 13, when other provincial and national numbers were available from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 42,439 people tested per million population. The national rate was 57,271 people tested per million population.
