Masks will be mandatory in Prince Albert starting Friday. (file photo/ Canadian Press)

By paNOW Staff

public health order amendment

Mandatory masks in Prince Albert, further gathering restrictions to take effect Friday

Nov 3, 2020 | 2:01 PM

Starting Friday, Prince Albert, Regina and Saskatoon will institute mandatory masking for all public indoor spaces to slow transmission of COVID-19, among other amendments to the current public health order.

There are 81 new cases of COVID-19 to report in the province, 35 of which are across the north, with 28 people in hospital and 97 new recoveries.

The provincial total to date is now 3,373 cases.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (one), Far North East (one), North West (14), North Central (16), North East (3), Saskatoon (29), Central East (6) and Regina (10) zones.

One case reported today has a pending residence location. Nine cases with pending residence locations on Nov. 2 were assigned to the North West (three), North Central (four), North East (one) and Regina (one) zones.

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Of the total reported cases, 842 are considered active. There have been a total of 2,506 recoveries.

There are 28 people in hospital. Twenty-one are receiving inpatient care with two in the North West, five in the North Central, eight in the Saskatoon zone and six in the Regina zone.

Of the total cases, 373 are travellers, 1,627 are community contacts (including mass gatherings), 816 have no known exposures and 557 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall, 105 cases are healthcare workers, although not all may have sourced their infections at work. There are 686 cases involving people 19 years old and under. There are 1,227 cases in the 20 to 39 age range, 954 in the 40 to 59 age range, 422 in the 60 to 79 age range, and 84 are in the 80-plus age range.

Fifty per cent of cases are females and 50 per cent are males.

There have been 25 deaths related to COVID-19 to date.

There are:

• 874 cases from the Saskatoon area
• 712 cases from the north area (221 north west, 348 north central, 143 north east)
• 504 cases from the south area (230 south west, 215 south central, 59 south east)
• 448 cases from the far north area (393 far north west, 0 far north central, 55 far north east)
• 439 cases from the Regina area
• 391 cases from the central area (197 central west, 194 central east)
• Five cases currently have pending residence location

There have been 270,097 COVID-19 tests performed in the province with 1,931 performed yesterday.

The latest map of the COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan as of Nov. 3. (submitted photo/SHA)

Public Health Order amended

Starting Friday, the province will amend its public health orders to enhance safety measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Transmission trends in rural and smaller areas of the province have been linked to private gatherings. Transmission in urban areas are from both private gatherings and exposures in public places.

• Indoor Gathering Sizes Reduced

The maximum allowable gathering size for private gatherings in the home setting will decrease to 10, down from 15. This maximum allowable size includes those household members who ordinarily reside in the dwelling. Any event that occurs in a private dwelling and any outbuildings (garages, etc.) including weddings, religious gathering and funerals must abide by the 10 person gathering limit.

The 10-person limit does not apply to households with more than 10 family members living in the same residence.

If you are planning any gathering larger than 10, you must host the gathering in a public venue (restaurant, banquet hall, etc.) and abide by the guidelines that apply to that location. Restaurants, licensed establishments, banquet halls as well as weddings, funerals and religious gatherings which are all required to follow seating and physical distancing guidelines as described in the Re-Open Saskatchewan Plan here.

• Mandatory Masking Required in Indoor Public Places in Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert

All residents are required to wear non-medical masks when in indoor public spaces as of 12:01 a.m. Friday. For a full list, click here. This public health order will be in place for 28 days, then subject to review by the chief medical health officer.

Enforcement is permitted under the Public Health Act; however, compliance through education is the primary preference of public health. Public health will closely monitor compliance and encourage all individuals, businesses and organizations to abide by the masking order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Enforcement options will be considered based on observed compliance with the order.

For all communities, health officials strongly recommend wearing a non-medical mask anywhere outside the home as an additional measure to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Non-medical or cloth masks can play an important role in settings where physical distancing is not possible or is unpredictable.

All residents are to continue to reduce their close contacts and return to safe outings:

• Identify a single member of the household to do grocery shopping, run errands.
• Limit those errands to once per week.
• If you are working from home, ensure that your workplace will continue to support you to do so.

—

panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow