One new COVID-19 case and four more recoveries in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan reported one new COVID-19 case and four more recoveries Monday.

It’s the 12th straight day that the number of new cases has been in single digits.

The string of good case numbers over the past week or so has many people champing at the bit, looking to see when restrictions will start being lifted and things can get back to normal.

Premier Scott Moe said a plan would be released this week, but ahead of even that, the province’s top doctor has a warning.

“What we are doing today will have to continue even if there’s other activities or opportunities that become permissible,” said Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer.

Shahab was referring to things like physical distancing anytime you’re out of your home, washing hands frequently, not touching shared surfaces and using hand sanitizer when you do — all things he referred to as “good habits.”

“As other activities become allowable or permissible, we still have to maintain those good habits,” he said during a conference call with the media. “That would be essential. And if you don’t observe that, unfortunately, we will start seeing transmission.”

Shahab said we’ve been able to flatten the curve in Saskatchewan thus far, but we haven’t quashed the virus completely — and neither has the rest of Canada or the rest of the world.

So even if the economy is completely open again, we’ll need to continue things like physical distancing until there’s a vaccine or until the immunity in the general population is high enough.

As the economy continues forward, Shahab said the province will be closely monitoring where transmissions are happening and may have to adjust some of the relaxed restrictions.

Shahab said he will also being watching other countries that are ahead of Canada in their battle against the virus.

“In terms of how they are managing after relaxing restriction, what are some of the resurgences that they may see, and the reasons for that,” said Shahab.

By the numbers

There now are 316 cases in the province; all the cases have been confirmed. Seventy-four of the total number of cases are considered active.

The four recoveries bring that total to 238. Four people have died to date.

There are four people in hospital, including three (two in Saskatoon and one in Regina) who are receiving inpatient care and one who is in intensive care in Regina.

Of the total number of cases, 134 cases are related to travel, 132 are contacts or are linked to mass gatherings, 30 don’t have any known exposures, and 20 remain under investigation by local public health.

Saskatoon has had the most cases with 149, followed by Regina (70), the northern region of the province (60), the south (15), and the central region and far north (11 apiece).

In terms of age groups, 114 cases are between 20 and 39, 106 are in the 40-to-59 age range, 63 are between the ages of 60 and 79, 24 are aged 19 or under, and nine are 80 and over.

The recoveries comprise 110 in the Saskatoon area, 54 in the Regina area, 52 from the north, 13 from the south, seven from the central region, and two from the far north.

Thirty-five of the cases are health-care workers.

The 24,412 tests done to date in the province include 503 on Sunday.

Keep your distance

With warmer weather on the way, the provincial government reminded residents that all of the public health orders remain in effect.

Requirements for physical distancing and hand-washing continue, as does the order to avoid shared public surfaces.

Regina and Saskatoon previously closed their playgrounds to keep people from touching playground equipment and other surfaces.

As well, provincial parks remain closed.

New regulations for wills

The government announced Monday that, due to physical distancing restrictions due to COVID-19, it had enacted new regulations that will allow the remote witnessing of wills.

In normal situations, a will must be written out and signed by the person making the will or someone acting on their behalf. That signing then must be witnessed by two people (including the person’s lawyer), who also sign the document.

Now, an individual can sign their will, send it to their lawyer and acknowledge their signature remotely via video in front of their lawyer and a second witness.