There are now 134 people in Saskatchewan who have the COVID-19 virus.  That is an increase of 30 from Friday’s update.

18 of the 30 are being linked to a snowmobile rally and dinner held in Christopher Lake on Saturday, March 14.  Each one of those people are now self-isolating with the government saying the outcome of this event demonstrates the importance of physical distancing.

Six people are in hospital across the province, including three in acute care and three in intensive care units (ICU):

·         One inpatient case is located in the north, one in Saskatoon and one in Regina.

·         One ICU case is located in central Saskatchewan, one in Saskatoon and one in Regina.

·         At least seven cases are a result of local transmission.  The rest are travel-related or cluster-related due to exposure at mass gatherings.

·         Five cases concern individuals 19 years of age and under; all other cases are adults.

·         58 cases are in the 20-44 age range; 49 are in the 45-64 range; and 22 are in the 65-plus range.

·         57 per cent of the cases are males and 43 per cent are females.

Four people have recovered from the virus, though there may be more cases yet to be reported to Public Health.  To date, 8,248 COVID-19 tests have been performed by the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory.

With now more than 8,000 COVID-19 tests conducted by the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory, Saskatchewan ranks number three in the country for travel and non travel-related testing.

In addition to ongoing testing, the Ministry of Health will deploy additional staff to the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) to assist with contact tracing. This initiative is aimed at critical identification to better ensure cases are detected and followed up on in a timely manner, and to help prevent further transmission of COVID-19.

If you are experiencing any symptoms (fever, cough, sneezing, breathing issues, etc.), please use the online self-assessment tool at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19 and call 811.