For the first time in over three months, La Loche is now free of COVID-19. The last remaining active case was reported as over July 16. The final infected person has recovered.
The northwest community had been Saskatchewan's biggest hub for COVID-19 cases, with 282 cases of the disease reported between La Loche and nearby Clearwater River Dene Nation (CRDN). The Northern Village of La Loche announced the news shortly after midnight July 16.
"Mayor and council are pleased to announced there are now no active cases of COVID-19 in La Loche," read a statement released by the village online.
"We thank the community and our front line workers for working together to stop the spread of COVID-19."
Between La Loche and CRDN, the communities had reported more cases than any other community in the province - despite only having a combined population of less than 4,000 people, the communities reported more cases than Saskatoon's 200 cases and Regina's 85 cases as of July 15 - despite Saskatoon having over 60 times the population as the La Loche/CRDN area.
According to statistics released by the community, five people died in La Loche during the outbreak. Two hundred and twenty people contracted the disease in La Loche, along with 62 other people in CRDN. At one point during the outbreak, more than 130 people had the disease at the same time in the La Loche/CRDN area.
Health officials believed the first cases of COVID-19 in La Loche were linked to a case at the Kearl Lake oil sands camp in Alberta. Cases were first reported at the camp in April, with employees on site as early as March 24 having been at risk of COVID-19 exposure. The disease was reported in a long-term care facility in La Loche April 17, with an outbreak being proclaimed at the facility. An RCMP employee in the community was later confirmed by Saskatchewan RCMP to have contracted the disease April 24. Later, multiple cases of COVID-19 were reported after a funeral in CRDN.
While the new numbers show signs of hope following the devastation, the village is urging caution, saying the risk of infection is still present.
"While we have no active cases today, we must continue to practice hand washing, good sanitation, social distancing and the use of masks in public as the virus still exists and there is no cure yet," read the village statement.
"Take pride in where we are today; it has been a long battle to get here. Now let's work together to prevent new cases."
Cases of COVID-19 have also been reportedly found in the communities of Beauval, Jans Bay, Île-à-la-Crosse and Buffalo Narrows during the pandemic. The exact locations of these cases have not been confirmed by provincial health officials. No cases of COVID-19 have been reported from communities in northeast Saskatchewan, including places like Creighton, Denare Beach, Pelican Narrows, Sandy Bay or Deschambault Lake.
As of July 15, only eight active cases remained in northern regions of Saskatchewan, including six cases in the far north region.
