During a COVID-19 update Friday. Provincial Chief Medical Health Officer Dr, Saqib Shahab said that with summer ending and school starting, people may need to readjust their social bubbles.

Shahab says due to the high potential of transmission in schools, people should be prepared to name their close contacts in the event of an outbreak.

“We need to consider reducing our summer bubble, we need to reset our virtual household based on people at higher risk of transmission,” said Shahab. “And in the event that we are required to provide a list of our activities and close contacts, as part of a public health investigation. We should be able to count our close contacts on the fingers of our hand.”

He notes that Saskatchewan now has the lowest case count per capita in the country, with just over 5 cases per 100,000 people.

He says that the province continues to do a good job of flattening the curve.

“We need to congratulate all of us for continuing to do the things that have kept our transmission rate extremely low,” said Shahab. “It did go up a bit towards July and August, but it has again come down to very low levels, and that is really important as we enter the fall.”

Shahab says he understands that people are scared to return to school, but just like when businesses reopened, it can be done safely.

“We realize that this is an extraordinary year for children, families, and school staff,” said Shahab. “We’ve learned already, as we have reopened many other parts of our society, following specific guidelines for specific settings have worked well to keep our case numbers low, and to manage the occasional case or cluster as required.”

As of Friday, the active COVID-19 case count in Saskatchewan stands at 44.