The most new cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan in eight days came from the most processed tests in a day for the novel coronavirus in the province in the last month. Friday’s update from the Ministry of Health showed 207 new cases of the virus from 3,289 processed tests…a 6.3% positive rate which is where it has been for most of the last month. With 125 new recoveries, the active case count for COVID-19 in Saskatchewan went up a bit Friday to 1,507. Of those, 118 people are receiving inpatient care in a hospital while 20 other hospitalized cases are in an I-C-U. However, there were two deaths included in Friday’s update…a person in their 60s from Regina and a senior in the 80-and-over age group from Saskatoon.

       Otherwise, Saskatchewan reported 2,789 doses of vaccine were administered over seven different zones on Thursday. In addition, a shipment of Astra Zeneca vaccine is expected to arrive late next week in Saskatoon, Regina, North Battleford, Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, and Yorkton…meant for Phase One priority healthcare workers under 65 years and residents aged 60-64.  Those aged 60-64 will be able to book their appointment for the Astra Zeneca vaccine the week of March 15, with actual appointments starting the week of March 22.  Details on the phone line to call for bookings will be released by the end of next week. The Moderna vaccine shipment for the week of March 8 is now not expected until the week of March 15.

There are 207 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on March 5, bringing the provincial total to 29,432 cases.

Two Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died. One (1) death was reported in the 60-69 age group from the Regina zone, and one (1) death was reported in the 80+ age group from the Saskatoon zone.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (23), Far North Central (2), Far North East (13), North West (20), North Central (13), North East (8), Saskatoon (45), Central East (18), Regina (43), South West (2), South Central (5), and South East (5) zones.  Ten (10) cases are pending residence information.  Four (4) cases with pending residence information were assigned to the North Central zone.  Five (5) cases tested out-of-province were Saskatchewan residents and added to the counts.

There are a total of 27,532 recoveries and 1,507 cases are considered active.

One hundred and thirty-eight (138) people are in hospital.  One hundred and eighteen (118) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (3), Far North East (2), North West (11), North Central (9), North East (3), Saskatoon (52), Central West (1), Central East (4), Regina (31), and South East (2).  Twenty people are in intensive care: North Central (2), Saskatoon (9), Central East (1) and Regina (8).

There were 3,289 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on March 4, 2021.

To date, 589,109 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of March 3, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 493,699 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 651,581 tests performed per million population.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 155 (12.7 new cases per 100,000).  A chart comparing today’s average to data collected over the past several months is available on the Government of Saskatchewan website.  Please visit https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness/covid-19/seven-day-average-of-new-covid-cases.

Further statistics on the total number of cases among healthcare workers, breakdowns of total cases by source of infection, age, sex and region, total tests to date and the per capita testing rate can be found on the Government of Saskatchewan website.  Please visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/cases-and-risk-of-covid-19-in-saskatchewan.

Vaccines Reported

An additional 2,789 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 86,879.

The 2,789 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported Friday were administered in the following regions: Far North Central (22), North West (544), North Central (60), Central East (120), South East (30) Saskatoon (850), and Regina (1,163).

Friday, Health Canada has approved the use of the Johnson and Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 Vaccine in Canada.  The Johnson and Johnson (Janssen) vaccine is approved for people 18 years and over and requires only one dose.  Recommended storage and transportation is from 2-8 degrees Celsius.  Shipment dates and quantities are not yet available.

A shipment of AstraZeneca vaccine (15,500 doses) is expected late the week of March 8 and will be distributed among Regina, Saskatoon, North Battleford, Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, and Yorkton.  Priority groups targeted for the AstraZeneca shipment are Phase One priority healthcare workers under 65 years and residents aged 60-64.  Those aged 60-64 will be able to book their appointment for the AstraZeneca vaccine the week of March 15, with actual appointments starting the week of March 22.  Details on the phone line to call for bookings will be released by the end of next week.

The Moderna vaccine shipment for the week of March 8 is now not expected until the week of March 15.

A data correction from February 18 moved 36 second doses to first doses – totalling 1,014 first doses for that day.  For a listing of first and second doses in Saskatchewan administered by geographic zone, visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine-update.