Here are some highlights from the latest update on COVID-19 by the province.
The province will be resuming daily reporting of provincial COVID-19 case numbers on the weekends.
The practise had been discontinued over the last couple of weeks, and Premier Scott Moe said that was due to the stable case numbers as well as a desire to give health staff a breather on weekends.
But Moe acknowledged this caused concern due to higher case numbers this past weekend. For that reason, and “because we want to be as forthcoming as possible,” Moe said the daily reporting would resume on weekends.
Premier Moe also noted at the news conference that the recent local outbreaks showed “just how quickly this virus can spread if we let our guard down,” and urged people to continue to be careful.
“We have shown we can get these local outbreaks under control if we do the right things,” said Moe. He pointed out that active cases were now down to six in the North, which was good news.
Premier Moe also commented on the media reports that the federal government would extend the border closure to non essential travel to Aug. 21. He said he fully supports this right now, because “right now the COVID(-19) is very challenging in the US and it’s getting worse.”
He noted the US numbers continue to go up and up. “We need to avoid that type of situation here.”
There was also an update on the outbreak in the southwest and west central regions and on additional measures to track its spread.
Dr. Saqib Shahab, chief medical health officer for the province, said the contact tracing is happening and case contact investigations has continued “late into the evenings including on weekends.”
