SASKATOON — A community outbreak of COVID-19 in Saskatoon has been declared by the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
The outbreak is the result of one confirmed positive case and one presumptive positive case between May 21 and 26. These cases are linked to two large family gatherings in early May that exceeded ten people.
“All indications at this point indicate that the situation is contained, that it was a closed, private event and that all close contacts are isolating at home,” said Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan’s public health officer, at a conference on May 27.
The health authority said this is being declared an outbreak as it involves multiple different households with transmission linked to a large gathering.
A contact tracing investigation is underway that currently involves 60 plus people, said the health authority. The outbreak is not linked to transmission at a health care facility and has not resulted in any hospitalizations to date.
“I think what this underscores is that we cannot go back to business as usual, even though summer is beckoning, even though we see more traffic on the roads, we see more people outside and in our green spaces enjoying the outdoors,” Shahab said. “We still have to be very cautious, we still need to minimize transmission risk where we can.”
