Saskatchewan Health Authority opening up COVID-19 testing criteria on May 25

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) announced on Wednesday that it’s expanding criteria for COVID-19 testing next week.

People in the province can start calling Healthline 811 on May 25 to determine if they can be referred for testing based on the expanded guidelines.

Additional expanded testing guidelines provided by SHA are as follows:

• Testing available to anyone working outside the home, including those currently working, or returning to work as part of the Reopen Saskatchewan plan, who desire a test;
• Testing immunocompromised asymptomatic individuals such as cancer patients, in advance of undergoing immunosuppressive procedures such as chemotherapy;
• Testing all patients upon admission or in advance of a planned admission to an acute care hospital for a stay anticipated to be greater than 24 hours. This includes all expectant mothers entering a health facility to give birth;
• Increased testing for populations that are homeless or living in other vulnerable settings;
• Testing available to all health care workers caring for immunocompromised patients; and
• Mobile testing for anyone who desires a test in high volume work settings (factories, industrial settings, etc.).

As of May 20, the Saskatchewan Health Ministry said 41,951 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province.  It added that as of May 18, the province’s per capita rate was 32,410 people tested per million population, while the national rate was 35,570.

More to come…

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Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:

Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.

To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out.

For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.

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