The Saskatchewan Health Authority declared a COVID-19 outbreak at Meadow Lake Hospital on Wednesday, shortly before the provincial government announced there were 25 new cases in Saskatchewan.

In Meadow Lake, there’s one confirmed case involving a staff member at the hospital. So far, no patients have shown symptoms.

The outbreak is the second reported by the SHA in as many days. On Tuesday, the authority declared an outbreak at a dairy facility in Saskatoon.

Those outbreaks, like the one that was declared Friday at Prince Albert’s Victoria Hospital, have involved just one positive case. That has prompted questions about what constitutes an outbreak.

“You’re seeing us err on the side of caution now,” Scott Livingstone, the CEO of the SHA, said during a conference call.

“The question is, ‘Why are we declaring an outbreak with a single case?’ I think the best answer to that is a case like the individual in P.A., where we had a single individual in the facility for a number of days without knowing and exhibiting symptoms. The exposure to staff can be a big risk.”

Livingstone said eight other staff members at the Meadow Lake facility were tested and all received negative results.

The total number of cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan is now 512.

Twenty-four of the cases reported Wednesday are in the far north, including 22 in La Loche. The 25th new case is in the Saskatoon region.

Of the total number of cases, 163 are from the Saskatoon area, 152 are from the far north, 95 are from the northern region of the province, 76 were in the Regina area, 15 reside in the south and 11 are from the central region.

There have been 94 new cases in the far north since the start of May.

Of the total number of cases, 194 are currently considered active. That includes 138 cases in the far north, 36 in the north, 17 in Saskatoon and three in Regina. There aren’t any active cases in the south or central regions.

“While obviously the outbreak in La Loche and area is very concerning, when you look at the table showing active cases, we can see that apart from the far north — which is impacted due to the Lloydminster outbreak — things are pretty quiet in the rest of Saskatchewan, which enables us to proceed with the Re-Open Saskatchewan plan,” said Dr. Saqib Shahab, the province’s chief medical health officer.

Phase 1 of that plan opened Monday.

Two more people have been declared recovered, raising the provincial total so far to 312. Six Saskatchewan residents have died to date.

There currently are 13 people in hospital, including nine (seven in Saskatoon and two in the northern region) who are receiving inpatient care. Four people are in intensive care, including three in Saskatoon and one in the north.

Of the total number of cases, 204 are community contacts, 139 are travellers, 124 are being investigated by public health, and 45 don’t have any known exposures.

To date, 43 health-care workers have contracted the virus.

With staff members in the hospitals in Lloydminster, Meadow Lake and Prince Albert — and other facilities around the province — exposed to the virus, Livingstone said the SHA has faced some challenges with staffing issues due to self-isolation requirements.

“But we’re starting to see good news,” he said. “As early as last week, there were 20-plus employees in La Loche as an example that went back into service into La Loche that were on self-quarantine. We’re seeing P.A. Vic with no new cases.”

Of the total number of cases, there have been 66 cases involving people aged 19 or under. That number has more than doubled since April 28, when there were 30 such cases.

To date, there also have been 182 cases among people aged 20 to 39, 159 in the 40-to-59 age range, 90 in the 60-to-79 range, and 15 who are aged 80 and over.

There were 670 tests done Tuesday, increasing the provincial total to date to 33,591.

Premier Scott Moe was reminded during the media conference he previously had set a goal of 1,500 tests per day, but that number has yet to be reached.

He said he hadn’t abandoned that goal and was satisfied that “the testing that needs to be done is being done.” He noted the requests for tests in many areas of the province decreased, so the number of tests performed dropped as well.

The one area where testing is ramping up is in the northwest. As of Wednesday morning, there had been 727 tests done in the La Loche area — and the capacity for testing in that area is rising.

“Our testing is starting to increase again from where it was maybe a week or so ago and I would expect that it may increase in the days ahead, in particular dealing with the one more serious outbreak that we have in La Loche and that surrounding area,” Moe said.

“If we are able to get that particular outbreak to a more manageable situation, we may see our testing decrease again. But I don’t think that would be the expectation in the next few days.”

Outbreak in Meadow Lake

The SHA said Dr. Mandiangu Nsungu, one of its medical health officers, declared the outbreak in Meadow Lake on Tuesday evening. The infected staff member and close contacts are self-isolating and additional contact tracing is being done.

The SHA noted the hospital’s emergency department as well as emergency surgical and obstetrical services are still available. That could change if public health and Meadow Lake Hospital management deem the risk is too high.

Northern travel restrictions changed

Initially, Stony Rapids and La Ronge were not included in the travel ban in northern Saskatchewan.

After consulting with local public health officials, the government is now including those communities in the ban against non-essential travel in the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District.

“These measures will assist in ensuring that only essential travel happens through the north, supporting measures to prevent the further transmission of COVID-19,” the government said in a media release.