Another 22 infections in far north
COVID -19 continues to affect Saskatchewan’s north, as Wednesday saw 22 new confirmed cases in La Loche and an outbreak declared in Meadow Lake.
Premier Scott Moe called the far-north situation “very serious,” while chief medical officer Dr. Saqib Shahab reminded that things are “pretty quiet” in the rest of the province, so the Reopen Saskatchewan strategy will proceed in most places as planned.
There have been “challenges” with contact tracing, according to the Saskatchewan Health Authority, given the large number of cases.
“This has included being able to contact individuals who may be transient, or that individuals may not respond to phone calls from unknown numbers,” the SHA said in a written statement.
“The community’s lockdown is helping but we need to consistently (be) working with the community on mass gathering, food security and supported self-isolation process.”
Moe said he has “concerns from time to time,” but that contact tracing has “proven to be very effective” and “vigorous.”
In La Loche, as public health orders tighten up, including stationing 60 conservation officers and 13 checkstops in the far north, Moe said he believes the issue will be addressed.
Moe said every person in the province bears responsibility to keep track of their in-person contacts.
“No matter where our approach is that we may have one or two individuals that fall through our contact tracing efforts, and that’s why I have often said at this table that we should keep a little bit of a running tally in our head of who we’ve been in contact with over the course of the past two weeks,” said Moe.
“That’s who the Saskatchewan Health Authority is going to come and ask you about should you be tested positive.”
Canada’s chief medical officer Dr. Theresa Tam spoke about La
Loche on Wednesday in a news conference.
“It is an area of concern, because it is in a more remote area but also with Indigenous communities in that area,” said Tam. “So there’s been a lot of collaboration between the province, the local health authorities, the communities, also Indigenous Services Canada, and the agency has offered the support wherever that’s needed.”
Shahab said “testing continues to be done at a high level” in the far north, with 1,326 tests to date, including tests of people with mild symptoms.
Dr. Susan Shaw, SHA chief medical health officer, said 727 tests had been done in the “La Loche geography health network.”
Questioned about whether he is confident that the virus can be contained to a region (specifically, La Loche and the northwest), Moe said “the goal is to keep it not just in the community, but to keep it with the people that currently have it.”
He said there are more than 15 self-isolation trailers on the ground, plus 30 Saskatchewan Housing locales, and upwards of 20 areas within the school to facilitate people’s self-isolating.
Further, Moe said Stony Rapids and La Ronge have asked to be included in existing travel restrictions.
NEW OUTBREAK
At Meadow Lake Hospital, medical health officer Dr. Mandiangu Nsungu declared an outbreak Tuesday night after a single confirmed case of a health-care worker contracting COVID -19 through community transmission.
SHA CEO Scott Livingstone said other staff were tested, with negative results. Contact tracing is underway. Staff are self-isolating and will be retested, he added.
“With respect to what’s defining an outbreak, we’ve had lots of discussions about that … to nail down exactly how we’re going to define outbreak and cluster,” said Livingstone.
“You’re seeing us, I would say, err on the side of caution now when we (are) … declaring an outbreak with a single case.”
He said, for example, at Prince Albert’s Victoria Hospital, there was one person in “the facility for a number of days without knowing and exhibiting symptoms, and the exposure to staff could be a big risk, so that’s a good example of where you have a single case that has multiple exposures with lots of contact tracing and lots of followup that can have an impact on services ...”
Livingstone said by Friday, the SHA will clarify how to approach communication around outbreaks so it’s consistent across the province. Shahab said the situation in Lloydminster “seems to be contained” and will be reviewed this week and next.
TESTING
While testing may have increased in cases of outbreaks and clusters, the numbers fall short of the 1,500 tests per day target he had hoped to establish by late April.
“By and large ... our numbers are relatively quiet and we haven’t had the request for tests, quite frankly, which is a positive thing,” said Moe. He mentioned that tests “shot up briefly” in cases of outbreaks and contact tracing.
“It is my expectation as we look ahead in that northwest area that our testing numbers will increase. It is my expectation that if there’s an outbreak in any community or facility in this province, that our testing numbers will increase in that area,” said Moe.