COVID-19 in Sask: Province reports highest number of patients in hospital at same time so far

• Saskatchewan has 260 cases of COVID-19, up by seven since Monday.
• Eighty-eight people have now recovered from the virus.
• Seven people are in hospital, the highest number of patients at one time so far.
• Revised COVID-19 fatality estimates for the province will be released on Wednesday.
• An advocate says the provincehas not delivered on a promiseto provide housing for people who are showing symptoms and need to self-isolate.
• Northern health-care centres are low on crucial pandemic supplies, officials say.

Saskatchewanhealth officials have reported seven new cases of COVID-19, including one new case in the province's far north. Thatbringsthe province's total tally of cases Tuesday to 260.

Notably, seven people infected with the novel coronavirusare now listed as being in hospital the highest number ofCOVID-19 patients hospitalized at the same time since the province began regularly reporting onhospitalizations in mid-March.

The last time the province's health system had nearly as many COVID-19 patients in hospital simultaneously was on March 27 and March 28, when six people required care in hospital.

The number of hospitalizedCOVID-19 cases increased by three in 24 hours on Tuesday. The figure stood at four on Monday. Two of the seven in-hospital cases Tuesday are under intensive care: one in Regina, one in Saskatoon.

The number of COVID-19 patients in hospital has fluctuated over the last three weeks but remained generally low. Some intensive care patients have since been discharged from the hospital, Dr. Susan Shaw, the Saskatchewan Health Authority's chief medical officer, previously said.

Asked Tuesday how many patientshave required hospitalization due to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and how many have been under intensive care, the Ministry of Healthsaid it would takesome time to get that information together.

Here's how Saskatchewan's cases break down regionally as of Tuesday.

Another bump in young cases

Among the seven new cases announced Tuesday, two were among the lowest age group (19 and under) reported by health officials.

The number of cases in that age group,which remains the smallest of any Saskatchewan age group,has more than doubled in just afew days,from six on Friday to 13 on Tuesday.

"Susceptibility to getting exposed to COVID-19 is uniform throughout age groups," Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer, said earlier this week.

Across Canada, here's how COVID-19 cases fall along various age groups.

As of Monday, Saskatchewan rankedsixth among provinces in number of cases.

Monday was also the first day in Saskatchewan that the number of newly-announced recoveries (14) outstripped the latest crop of new cases (four).

"We're not experiencing anywhere near our peak number of cases on an inpatient basis," said Scott Livingstone, the CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

Surge planning details coming Wednesday

Tuesday's update on cases camea day beforehealth officials are slated to releaseupdated estimates on how many Saskatchewan residents might die from the novel coronavirus under various scenarios. Early estimates predicated on 30 per cent of the province's population becoming infected suggested as many as 15,000 could die.

Health officials arealso expected to provide further insight Wednesday into how the health system is planning for a potential surge of COVID-19 patients needing in-hospital care.

• COVID-19 in Sask: Internal draft gov't document outlines 'worst case scenario' of up to 15,000 deaths

• COVID-19 in Sask: Who gets a ventilator? In 'hypothetical' worst-case scenario, age might decide

Premier Scott Moe also confirmed Monday that, starting next week,officials will host a weekly Tuesday briefing on the provincial health system's pandemic readiness.