COVID-19 in Sask: 60 new cases, hospitalizations surpass May peak

REGINA — The Saskatchewan government reported on Thursday 60 new cases of COVID-19.

There are now 21 people in hospital, surpassing the peak in May when there were 19 in hospital.

The province said 18 people are receiving inpatient care: 10 in the Saskatoon zone, two in the Regina zone and six in the north central zone.

Three people are in intensive care: two in Saskatoon and one in Regina.

The bulk of the new cases are located in Saskatoon, which is reporting 21.

Here is the breakdown of other regions:

Public health investigations are underway to determine the source of transmission for all new cases.

Of the 2,558 reported cases, 509 are considered active. There are 22 new recoveries. Since the pandemic began, there have been 2,024 recoveries.Two Saskatchewan residents tested out-of-province have been added to the total case counts.

One case has been assigned to the north west zone and one case has pending residence location.

A death that occurred in April 2020 has been reassigned from Saskatoon to the far north west zone.

As of Oct. 20, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 163,966 people tested per million population.  The national rate was 235,543 people tested per million population.

On Wednesday, 2,190 COVID-19 tests were performed in Saskatchewan.

CASE CONFIRMED AT ST. JOSEPH HIGH SCHOOL IN SASKATOON

Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools (GSCS) says it was informed of a positive COVID-19 case at St. Joseph High School.

The division said it's working with Public Health to inform parents and the Saskatchewan Health Authority is conducting contact tracing.

"Risk of exposure for anyone not considered a close contact remains low," GSCS said in a news release.

NURSES' UNION CALLS ON PUBLIC TO FOLLOW COVID-19 PROTOCOLS

As COVID-19 cases climb and hospitals tighten rules around visitation, the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) is calling on the public to better adhere to the public health protocols.

Saskatchewan has 427 active cases — a new record for the province.

The majority of cases are in Saskatoon and are linked to outbreaks at local nightclubs, according to the Ministry of Health.