Eight more Saskatchewan residents now have COVID-19.
The new positive tests were announced March 31, bringing the total number of cases of the disease within the province to 184.
The Saskatchewan government announced the creation of a new government pandemic response program through the provincial Ministry of Social Services to cover the outbreak. The program will be tasked with supporting at-risk people and groups by using resources already within the Saskatchewan health care system.
The program will include abilities to provide more funding to emergency shelters, new service delivery models and ways to increase capacity and pressure on the provincial medical system.
A total of $171,000 in funding was announded for emergency shelters during the COVID-19 outbreak. Almost $4 million has been dedicated to such shelters since the outbreak began.
Applications for the Saskatchewan Housing Benefit will start throught the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation will begin April 1.
Case info
Out of the total of 184, almost half of the reported cases in Saskatchewan are in Saskatoon - 90 cases as of March 31. Thirty-seven cases have been reported in the area classified by the province as the "north", several of which have been tied to transmission at a recent snowmobile rally. Three people in the "far north", where Creighton, Denare Beach and other nearby communities are located, have tested positive.
Four people, including three in Saskatoon, have been hospitalized due to COVID-19. One person in Regina is currently in intensive care. Some recoveries from the disease have been reported - seven as of March 31.
Saskatchewan has now performed more than 10,000 tests, including 475 since March 30. The province reports that Saskatchewan has the second highest rate of per-capita COVID-19 testing of any Canadian province.
