Six new COVID-19 cases; SHA outlines school outbreak protocol

If an outbreak in a school is declared, it will be announced on the provincial government’s website. All the parents of that school will also be notified.

As defined by the SHA, an outbreak will be declared when two or more people from one school test positive for COVID-19, within a specific time period. An outbreak does not necessarily mean the school will automatically close, nor does it mean there is a risk to others.

But with the return of school this fall and winter, Saskatchewan’s top doctor Saqib Shahab said during Thursday’s press conference said children will have to stay at home more often due to coughs and colds, which look a lot like COVID-19 symptoms. He said schools and employers will have to take that into account.

“Schools have said this time around, they’ll take into account the fact that children may have to stay home several times during the fall and winter because all of us, children especially, get coughs and colds,” Shahab said. “If you have a cough or cold, you should stay home until you are better, or if your COVID test is negative. That will happen more frequently.”

“I think parents of children who are too young to stay home alone need to have a backup plan for that morning when a child is unwell and needs to stay home,” Shahab added. “Because of that, employers have already supported staff staying at home if they’re unwell throughout the pandemic before going back to work.”

If a student or education staff receives a positive COVID-19 test result, public health immediately begins their contact investigation. Notification processes will proceed as outlined in the Safe Schools Plan Parent Information Packages.

(submitted photo/Saskatchewan Health Authority)

Of the 1,676 cases in the province:

257 cases are travellers;
839 are community contacts (including mass gatherings);
498 have no known exposures; and
82 are under investigation by local public health

Overall in Saskatchewan:

69 cases are healthcare workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to healthcare in all instances.
280 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
542 cases are in the 20 to 39 age range; 511 are in the 40 to 59 age range; 285 are in the 60 to 79 age range; and 58 are in the 80-plus range.
51 per cent of the cases are females and 49 per cent are males.
24 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.
There are:
- 428 cases from the south area (218 south west, 197 south central, 13 south east)
- 356 cases from the far north area (349 far north west, seven far north east)
- 278 cases from the Saskatoon area
- 270 cases from the north area (131 north west, 73 north central, 66 north east)
- 205 cases from the central area (167 central west, 38 central east)
- 138 cases from the Regina area
- The location of one case is pending.

To date, 153,649 COVID‐19 tests have been performed in Saskatchewan. As of September 8, 2020, when other provincial and national numbers were available from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 109,722 people tested per million population. The national rate was 157,754 people tested per million population.

Yesterday, 1,120 COVID-19 tests were performed in Saskatchewan.

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panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow

by paNOW Staff

Six new COVID-19 cases; SHA outlines school outbreak protocol

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