Residents can continue to enjoy the spring and summer weather coming to Saskatchewan, Chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said, but they need to continue practising physical distancing to minimize continued transmission of the virus.
After a month of taking preventative measures, such as staying home and maintaining physical distancing, it will be tempting to get outside to enjoy the warmer temperatures forecasted for many areas across Saskatchewan over the coming days.
In the daily update on COVID-19 in Saskatchewan, Dr. Shahab also said the province will continue to look at other activities that will be allowed in the province as the numbers of active cases continue to drop.
“I’m sure there will be some look at what other activities can be allowed that lets us enjoy summer and lets us participate in other economic activity,” said Shahab.
“We should understand that until such time that there is an effective vaccine or treatment, we will have to maintain physical distancing,” he added.
Shahab said the virus certainly has not gone away in Saskatchewan and will not for weeks or months. He added continuing to practice the habits that have kept the province’s numbers low is important until treatment or high levels of immunity have been reached.
He noted things to keep in mind when going outside, include maintaining a distance of two metres from other people; avoiding shared public surfaces; keeping children away from group settings; and washomg your hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds when returning home.
Provincial parks remain closed. Check with local municipalities regarding playgrounds, as many communities, including Saskatoon and Regina, have closed playgrounds to prevent contact with equipment and commonly touched surfaces which may not be cleaned regularly.
Meantime, Saskatchewan has one new case of COVID-19 as of April 20, bringing the total to 316 reported cases, reported the Chief Medical Officer. All cases are confirmed.
Seventy-four of the 316 reported cases are considered active.
Four more people have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 238.
There are four people in hospital, including three who are receiving inpatient care and one person in intensive care.
Shahab said it is important to recognize that due to the people of Saskatchewan’s efforts, the curve remains flat.
“We are managing to keep the curve flat and actually bend it downwards, so that is reassuring,” he said. “While that is very reassuring, it still means that we have to continue what we’ve been doing.”
Of the 316 cases in the province, 134 cases are travel related; 132 are contacts or linked to mass gatherings; 30 have no known exposures; and 20 are under investigation by local public health.
Overall in Saskatchewan, 35 of the cases are health care workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to health care in all instances.
By region, 149 of the cases are from the Saskatoon area, 70 from the Regina area, 60 from the north, 15 from the south, 11 from the central region and 11 from the far north.
Breaking the numbers down by age, 24 cases involve people 19 years of age; 114 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 106 are in the 40 to 59 age range; 63 are in the 60-79 age range; and nine are in the 80-plus range. About 52 per cent of the cases are males and 48 per cent are females.
Four deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported so far.
To date, 24,412 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province.
Saskatchewan continues to have the second highest rate of testing per capita among provinces that have reported. Case surveillance and testing information, including regional locations of cases, is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19.
Public inquiries may be directed to [email protected].
