27 new cases of COVID 19 were announced by the provincial government on Friday.

24 of those cases are located in the south, 1 in the central region, 1 in the north, and 1 in the Regina region.

21 of the 27 new cases are also from Hutterite colonies, where there are 21 different colonies with active cases in both southwest and west-central regions.

There have now been 1,099 reported cases in Saskatchewan, with 235 considered active. 848 people have also recovered.

Fourteen people are in hospital as well, with 10 receiving inpatient care, and 4 in intensive care.

Late Thursday night, the Saskatchewan Health Authority issued yet another advisory for several businesses in Swift Current after confirming that an individual made several stops and has now tested positive for COVID-19.

They say that while this individual did sanitize their hand prior to entering the stores in question, they were not wearing a mask and could, therefore, pass along the virus through air droplets.

The businesses in question are from a period on July 14th:

  • Home Hardware, 11:00 a.m. - Noon.
  • Dollarama (Swift Current Mall), 3:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
  • Staples, 3:20 p.m. - 4:10 p.m.
  • Canadian Tire, 4:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

The following information and statistics were provided by the Government of Saskatchewan.

Of the 1,099 cases in the province:

  • 216 have no known exposures; and
  • 115 are under investigation by local public health. 

Overall in Saskatchewan:

  • 59 cases are health care workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to health care in all instances.
  • 347 of the cases are from the Far North, 220 from the South, 218 are from the Saskatoon area, 129 from the North, 97 from the Central region and 88 from the Regina area.
  • 169 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
  • 364 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 345 are in the 40-59 age range; 187 are in the 60-79 age range; and 34 are in the 80-plus range.
  • 51 per cent of the cases are females and 49 per cent are males.
  • 16 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date. 

To date, 87,988 COVID‐19 tests have been performed in Saskatchewan.  As of July 22, 2020, when other provincial and national numbers were available from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 63,850 people tested per million population.  The national rate was 98,361 people tested per million population.

Yesterday, an all-time high of 1,604 COVID-19 tests were performed in Saskatchewan. 

Bored of COVID? COVID Doesn’t Care 

It has been more than four months since COVID-19 arrived in Saskatchewan.  It’s understandable that many people are tired or frustrated with the continued state of cautiousness.  If you are feeling well or don’t know anyone who has gotten sick, it is easy to think that you do not need to be careful.  However, the recent surge in COVID-19 in all regions of Saskatchewan shows that we cannot become complacent.  There is no region in Saskatchewan without active cases.  Personal protective measures protect you, your friends and family.

For the health and safety of your community, act as if there is a risk of coming into contact with COVID-19 anytime you go in public or meet with friends.  We have seen from our past case numbers that Saskatchewan residents know what needs to be done to reduce transmission: wash your hands often, keep gatherings small and with the same group of people, maintain a physical distance of two metres and wear a mask anywhere where you cannot maintain physical distancing.  We all have a responsibility to follow these guidelines.  If we all do our part to keep ourselves and others safe, we will be able to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan again.