For the seventh straight day, the number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Saskatchewan was greater than the number of new cases Tuesday.

In a media release, the provincial government announced nine more people have recovered while there was one new confirmed case.

To date, 187 people have recovered from the virus. The total number of cases to date is 301.

There are seven people in hospital.

There are 110 active cases in the province.

The number of recoveries has exceeded the number of new cases every day since April 7, when there were seven of each. The last time the number of new cases exceeded the number of recoveries was April 5, when there were 18 of the former and 12 of the latter.

Of the 301 cases, 131 are travellers, 121 are community contacts (including mass gatherings) and 27 don’t have any known exposures. Public health officials are investigating 22 cases.

There have been four deaths to date.

Dr. Saqib Shahab, the province’s chief medical health officer, said Saskatchewan has followed a different path than other provinces in Canada in terms of its numbers — in large part because B.C., Ontario and Quebec had cases before Saskatchewan. That allowed the provincial government to react in time to limit the spread.

How this province reacts will determine whether restrictions that have been put in place can be relaxed.

“Will we follow the same trajectory or a very different trajectory?” Shahab asked on a media conference call. “I think ultimately it’s still up to all of us to stay the course for the next little while.

“Then, as we continue to see our numbers, what measures can be cautiously relaxed creating minimum risk to further spikes but at the same time allowing some aspects of work or other aspects of life to continue in a way that’s different from before and still manage to reduce further transmission risk?”

Of the total number of cases, 34 are health-care workers, 19 of whom have recovered.

The total includes 147 cases from the Saskatoon area, 65 from the Regina area, 57 from the north, 15 from the south, 10 from the central region and seven from the far north.

There have been 129 cases in the 20-to-44 age range, 100 in the 45-to-64 age range, 51 in the 65-and-over range and 21 in the 19-and-under category.

There have been 20,282 COVID-19 tests performed in the province.

Relaxing restrictions

Premier Scott Moe appeared on Gormley on Tuesday and reiterated what he had said Monday: For the province to get its economy up and running, the number of cases has to remain low.

“If our numbers stay where they are, we are going to start reopening our economy here in the province and we are going to do it in a very methodical manner where we will open up a sector of the economy and we will test and contact trace and watch our numbers,” Moe said.

“If they are still within a manageable amount, then we will open up another sector of the economy and then we will test and we will contact trace.”

Moe said he didn’t have any idea when the restrictions could be lifted. If there’s a spike of new cases, that would delay the move to restart some areas of the economy.

Even if things do start up, Moe stressed that physical distancing and other measures will remain in place.

“Some of what we are seeing with respect to the tightening of restrictions around our long-term care centres, our personal-care homes, those aren’t going to change anytime soon,” he said. “Those need to stay in place for some period of time, quite likely a period of time until we have an effective vaccine.

“We will phase by phase — starting with some of our low-risk opportunities that we have — reopen and function as a society, test all the way and see if we can’t get this place back to some semblance of normalcy.”

Testing plans

Moe says the province is trying to secure an antibody test that would show not just whether a patient has COVID-19, but also if they’ve contracted the illness and recovered.

Moe didn’t rule out trying to acquire the Cellex test, which is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration but not the Public Health Agency of Canada.

“It’s all options on deck. We are looking actively at every not only testing kit but every treatment, every opportunity for a potential vaccine,” Moe said.

Increased testing is one of the conditions for the province to start lifting emergency restrictions imposed during the pandemic.

Moe said the province has ordered 25,000 rapid test kits from the company Spartan Bioscience and more will be coming. As well, 46,000 test kits will be allocated to Saskatchewan through federal procurement.

“We need to get our testing up if we’re going to be able to reopen our economy,” he said.

“We need to have the capacity at that point in time to test and vigorously test, should we have an outbreak in a regional setting, in a long-term care home, in a health-care facility or in a community.”