There are 168 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on Thursday and 1064 variants of concern (VOC) have been identified by screening in the province.  The Ministry of Health reports these variant cases have previously been reported as “presumptive positives” but all screening tests will be considered confirmed VOCs for the purposes of public reporting and contact investigations.

Two more people have died after testing positive for COVID-19, one person in their 40’s from the North Central zone and a senior in their 70’s from the Central East zone.  The province has now seen 422 COVID-19 related deaths.

With 105 recoveries, there are currently 1,623 cases considered active in Saskatchewan.  Currently 154 people are in hospital with, 22 in intensive care units.  The seven day average of daily new cases has jumped up to 181 after being at 135 on Wednesday of last week.

Since the pandemic began Saskatchewan has seen 32,346 cases and 30,301 recoveries.

New Cases:

The new cases are located in the Far North West (2), Far North East (3), North West (3), North Central (2), North East (1), Saskatoon (25), Central West (3), Central East (19), Regina (70), South Central (11), and South East (24) zones. Five (5) new cases are pending residence information.  Eight cases with pending residence have been assigned to the following zones: Far North West (1), North Central (2), North West (2), Regina (1), South Central (1), and South East (1). Three duplicate cases have been removed from the Far North East (1), North West (1) and Saskatoon (1) zones.

One hundred fifty-four (154) people are in hospital.  One hundred and thirty-two (132) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (1), Far North East (1), North West (5), North Central (5), North East (1), Saskatoon (41), Central East (8), Regina (56), South West (2), South Central (3) and South East (9).  Twenty-two (22) people are in intensive care: Saskatoon (6), Central East (2), South Central (2) and Regina (12).

Variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the Far North East (1), North Central (1), Saskatoon (18), Central East (20), Regina (895), South Central (63) and South East (66) zones.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 181 (14.7 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. 

Vaccines Reported

An additional 4,247 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 155,754.

The 4,247 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered in the following regions: Far North West (170), North Central (18), North East (633), Saskatoon (1,289), Central West (340), Central East (40), South Central (157), South East (182) and Regina (1,418).

The appointment booking system has expanded to include residents 62 years and older.  These residents are encouraged to book their COVID-19 vaccination and can do so online or by phone.  Additional information on eligibility and how to book your appointment is available here.

More than two-thirds of Saskatchewan residents over the age of 80 and 30 per cent of Saskatchewan residents in their 70s have now received their first dose.

The province also provided a table or people vaccinated in Saskatchewan.

There were 3,370 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on Wednesday.

To date, 643,629 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of Tuesday, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 539,221 tests performed per million population. The national rate was 706,705 tests performed per million population.

New Public Health Measures for Regina and Area

Due to increased COVID-19 transmission risk in Regina and area, the Chief Medical Health Officer announced amendments to the public health order.  The new orders announced on Tuesday, March 24 will remain in effect until April 5, 2021 and reviewed at that time.

The following revisions to the public health order are effective immediately: restricting private indoor gatherings to immediate household members only; limiting non-essential travel to Regina and area; and working from home when possible.

Effective 12:01 am, Sunday March 28, all restaurants and licensed establishments must close for in-person dining.  Take-out and delivery is permitted.  Event venues including banquet and community halls, conference facilities, arts venues, museums, libraries, live theatre, cinemas, arcades, bowling and science centres, or any non-essential indoor locations that had limits of 30 individuals are not permitted to operate at this time.

Places of worship in the Regina may continue at the current capacity level, which is a maximum of 30 individuals.

Full details on the current public health measures can be found at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-measures.

Weekly Reporting of Testing Numbers and Cases for Youth 

The trends of COVID-19 cases in school-aged children are being monitored.  The weekly report of cases and testing numbers for children aged 0-19, including data by age and positivity rates, has been posted at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19-Safe-Schools-Plan.

Enforcing Public Health Measures

Enforcement of public health orders is permitted under The Public Health Act, 1994.  Public health inspectors and other enforcement officers will be supported in their efforts to ticket violators to ensure that businesses and events are brought into compliance as quickly as possible, in addition to the enforcement efforts that have been undertaken by police agencies throughout the province.

For more information on the current public health measures or to see the Public Health Order, visit www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-measures.