For the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak began, a person in far north Saskatchewan has died due to the disease.
The provincial government announced the death April 27. The person, who was not identified, has been described at a person in their 80s from the far north region of Saskatchewan. No further information about which community the person lived in was made available.
Twelve new cases of COVID-19 were reported, with all but one coming from the far north region. Saskatchewan has reported 365 postitive cases of COVID-19 with five deaths reported. Seventy-two cases are still considered active.
Within the far north region, 46 positive cases, including 42 active cases, have been reported. While the far north region of Saskatchewan includes communities such as Creighton, Denare Beach, Pelican Narrows, Sandy Bay and Deschambault Lake, none of the cases are believed to be in these communities. Three people in the region are confirmed to have recovered.
The boom in cases has been tied to an outbreak in community transmissions in La Loche, where cases began being reported last week. Out of the 46 positive cases, 29 have been reported within La Loche. Cases of COVID-19 have been linked to health care providers, a local seniors' facility and the local RCMP detachment, where at least one employee has tested positive for COVID-19. The provincial government said the outbreak has been linked to a similar outbreak at an oil sands work camp in northern Alberta.
Travel restrictions to northern Saskatchewan remain in place as of April 27, with a public health order restricting travel both in and out of the northern half of the province. Chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab has also recommended against northerners travelling between communities.
In a statement issued April 27, the Saskatchewan government described their policy for describing individual COVID-19 cases and deaths.
"The Ministry of Health has received questions surrounding the time and process of reporting COVID-19 fatalities. It is important to record and report COVID-19 cases and death in a uniform way, to ensure all jurisdictions have a consistent approach to reporting and that the evolving science can draw from this information," reads the statement.
"COVID-19 fatalities must be confirmed by the medical health officer to ensure that the case meets the criteria in order to be documented in the epidemiological reporting tools, before they can be publicly reported by the ministry."
