Northern Sask. holds Canada’s highest COVID-19 case rate by far, data shows
Saskatchewan’s far north COVID-19 case rate in the last seven days is sitting at 1,180 per 100,000 people – the highest across Canada.
The northern region, which includes Prince Albert, is the second-highest at 556 per 100,000 people, according to data from the federal government.
The Government of Saskatchewan has brought back some measures in hopes of dropping the spread of COVID-19, such as mandatory masking and required self-isolation when you test positive.
While the Athabasca Health Authority’s (AHA) CEO is happy the province is reinstating preventative measures, he said a drop in cases will also take public cooperation.
“The provincial government can only do so much, but it’s also up to all of us as well to do what we can, to make sure that we are double vaccinated, make sure that we still continue to practice safe distancing, staying within our bubbles, washing our hands,” said Allan Adam.
The AHA serves communities such as Fond du Lac, Stony Rapids and Black Lake.
Adam said the vaccine rates in AHA communities are slowly rising, but are still too low. About 50 per cent of people in Fond du Lac have received their first dose, for example.
The AHA will be giving out gift cards as vaccine incentives, he said.
Starting Oct. 1, the province is also making vaccines or proof of negative tests mandatory to participate in many non-essential activities, like in restaurants, movie theatres and casinos.
“We just run the risk of further spreading it if we continue to go just as is after July 11, everything just opened up,” said Adam.
“People thought everything was good and the next thing you know, COVID is coming back into our communities again.”
Stanley Mission, located northeast of La Ronge, had 114 active cases as of Thursday, according to the Lac La Ronge Indian Band.
The region that includes Stanley Mission, the far northeast, has 229 active cases among Indigenous communities served by the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.