The Saskatchewan government reported 10 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday.
There were six cases recorded in the Saskatoon area, including two that are linked to the outbreak at a Brandt Industries workplace in the city.
“The latest confirmed cases are from testing completed on close contacts of the employees and are not occurring in the workplace itself,” the government said in a media release.
The release added there have been 19 cases connected to the Brandt Industries cluster to date.
Two of the other four new cases are in the Regina region, with one each in the far northeast and central-west zones.
The total number of cases reported in the province to date is 1,824.
There were nine recoveries reported Tuesday, increasing that total so far to 1,654. To date, 24 residents of the province have died after testing positive for COVID-19.
There are 146 active cases being reported.
Nine people are in hospital around the province. Eight people — seven in Saskatoon and one in Regina – are receiving inpatient care, while one person is in intensive care in Saskatoon.
Increased testing coming
With Premier Scott Moe’s stated goal of having 4,000 tests done per day, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) has been increasing testing capacity.
To that end, it’s hiring for 76 positions; so far, 27 people have been hired.
The authority also is starting pooled testing, which means combining several specimens and doing one laboratory test to look for the virus.
“If any pooled test produces a positive result, all samples within the batch will be retested individually before results are released,” the government said in a release.
The pooled testing of asymptomatic swabs allows labs to test more specimens with fewer testing materials, thus increasing testing output.
As well, the SHA is increasing the number of GeneXpert tests being performed in the province. The number is going from 200 per week to 1,200 per week by early October.
“The GeneXpert is a molecular testing platform located in more than 20 locations throughout the province, providing more immediate diagnostics on-site,” the province said in its release. “It significantly expands testing capacity while improving turn-around times.”
A look at the numbers
Of the total number of cases in the province, 894 are community contacts, 528 don’t have any known exposures, 271 are travellers and 131 are being investigated by local public health officials.
There have been 69 cases involving health-care workers.
The total comprises 595 cases in the 20-to-39 age range, 562 between the ages of 40 and 59, 306 involving people 19 and under, 300 from age 60 to 79, and 61 aged 80 and over.
There have been 439 cases from the south area (222 southwest, 199 south-central, 18 southeast), 359 in the Saskatoon area, 358 from the far north (349 far northwest, nine far north east), 271 in the north zone (131 northwest, 73 north-central, 67 northeast), 235 in the central area (173 central-west, 62 central-east) and 162 from the Regina region.
Saskatoon has recorded 54 cases over the past week, while Regina has reported 23 cases over the same time period.
The 1,641 tests done in Saskatchewan on Monday increased the province’s total to date to 175,405.
More to come.
