An elder from southern Saskatchewan has become the latest person in the province to die from COVID-19.
The province's 18th death from COVID-19 was announced July 30. The victim was a person in their 90s living in southern Saskatchewan.
Throughout Saskatchewan, 38 new cases of COVID-19 were announced July 30 - 14 from central Saskatchewan, 12 from the north, six from the south, five in Saskatoon and one in the far north. Provincial health officials have linked 23 of the 38 cases to what the province calls "communal living settings".
Fourteen people are currently hospitalized in Saskatchewan due to COVID-19, with five of those people in intensive care.
All told, 1,306 people in Saskatchewan have tested positive for COVID-19. Of the 1,306 people, 304 still have the disease. Seventy-one active cases are in northern Saskatchewan communities - 66 in the north and another five in the far north. No cases have been reported in the areas of Saskatchewan around Flin Flon.
Along with the 38 new cases, 55 more people who had COVID-19 have now recovered from the disease.
The spike in northern Saskatchewan COVID-19 cases has been tied to a Hutterite community in the RM of Star City, not far from Melfort. An advisory sent out by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) July 30 stated that visitation at hospitals in Melfort, Tisdale and Nipawin, along with three long-term care homes in the area, would be limited. Only family members or support people will be able to attend these facilities for compassionate reasons.
Two possible exposure events were announced July 30 by the SHA - one at three restaurants in Lloydminster and another at a business in Leask. A person who was "likely infectious" according to the SHA visited Popeye's July 10, the Three Trees Tap and Kitchen July 11 and Cora's July 12, all in Lloydminster, while another person at the Canada Post office in Leask from July 20-24 also later tested positive. All people who may have attended these businesses during those times are asked to self-monitor for symptoms over the next two weeks.
In Manitoba, a pair of new COVID-19 cases were announced July 30. Both cases were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region and both were found in males in their 30s.
No new recoveries from the disease were reported. Throughout the province, 409 people of have tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic - 76 of those people still have the disease.
More than a thousand tests were conducted in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan July 29 - 1,682 in Saskatchewan, 1,179 in Manitoba.
