5 new COVID-19 cases in Sask., bringing number of active cases to 40

The province reported five new cases of COVID-19  on Saturday, bringing Saskatchewan's total to 1,643 recorded cases since the start of the pandemic.

Of those, 40 are considered active and 1,579 people have recovered from the illness. There were 36 active cases in the province on Friday. 

Three of the new cases reported Saturday are in the Saskatoon zone. The other two are located in the south central zone.

The number of people in hospital dropped slightly to two on Saturday, down from three on Friday. One person is now in intensive care.

The number of people now in hospital with COVID-19 is a decrease of 85 per cent from the number of hospitazliations a month ago. On Aug. 6, 13 people were in hospital with the illness.

There were no new COVID-19-related deaths reported on Saturday, with the number of deaths related to the illness in the province remaining at 24. 

The number of active cases has dropped by 164, or more than 80 per cent, in the last month. On Aug. 6, there were 204 active cases in the province, according to data on the province's website.

Recoveries also outpaced new cases over the same time frame. While total cases rose by 256 — or 18 per cent — since Aug. 6, recoveries rose by roughly 36 per cent (from 1,164 recoveries on Aug. 6 to 1,579 as of Saturday).

Of the province's total cases, 832 are community contacts and 251 are in travellers. The number of cases with no known exposure is 488, and 72 remain under investigation. 

The number of tests done in the province is now 146,795, with 2,123 conducted in the province on Friday. Earlier this week, the government of Saskatchewan said drive-thru test sites would be made available for Saskatchewan residents in the coming days.

COVID-19 testing is now open to all Saskatchewan residents, with symptoms or without. People encouraged to get a referral through 811 before getting a test.