22 new cases of COVID-19 bring Saskatchewan’s total to 156

Saskatchewan has added 22 new confirmed cases to its COVID-19 total.

As of Sunday, 156 cases of the coronavirus have been recorded in the province.

However, four more people have recovered in Saskatchewan, doubling the total so far to eight.

Four of the people who have recovered reside in the northern part of the province and two live in Saskatoon. One person from the far north and one individual from the southern area of Saskatchewan also have been declared recovered.

Of the 156 cases, 72 were in the Saskatoon area, 34 in the Regina area, 33 in the northern region, 10 from the central area, four from the south and three from the far north.

Five individuals are in hospital, including three in acute care and two in intensive care.

Two of the inpatient cases are in Saskatoon, with the other in the north. One of the ICU cases is in Regina, while the other is in central Saskatchewan.

Seven of the total number of cases are the result of local transmission. The rest have been connected to travel or to large events, including a dental conference in Vancouver, a curling bonspiel in Edmonton and a snowmobile rally and dinner in Christopher Lake.

That latter event is still being looked at by public health officials for potential further spread.

“Approximately 130 people were present at the dinner, and 76 have been reached to date,” the government said in Sunday’s media release. “As of today, 20 cases have been linked to this event.”

Anyone who attended the dinner is asked to contact HealthLine 811.

Of the 156 cases, 69 are between the ages of 20 and 44, 59 are aged 45 to 64, 23 are aged 65 or over, and five are aged 19 and under.

As of Sunday, 9,086 COVID-19 tests had been performed in Saskatchewan, an increase of 838 from Saturday’s update.

According to the government, that was the highest single-day total for testing in the province since the pandemic started. The previous high of 782 tests was conducted on March 17.

The government did not hold a media availability to discuss Sunday’s numbers.