There are 21 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on Friday, bringing the provincial total to 48,882 cases.

The new cases are located in the following zones: Far North West, 5; Far North Central, 1; North West, 1; North Central, 1; Saskatoon, 4; Central East, 1; Regina, 7; and South West, 1.  Four previously reported cases have been assigned to North Central, 3; and North West, 1.

No new deaths are being reported today.

With 36 new recoveries, that total moves to 47,909 and 405 cases are considered active.

There are 57 people in hospital.  Forty-five are receiving inpatient care: North West, 3; North Central, 7; Saskatoon, 19; Central West, 1; Central East, 1; Regina, 12; and South Central, 2.  Twelve are in intensive care: North West, 2; North Central, 2; Saskatoon, 5; and Regina, 3.  Declining hospitalization numbers are a significant indicator that vaccination efforts are having an impact in the province.  In order to further reduce COVID-19 transmission now and through the remainder of 2021, residents are still encouraged to get their first and second doses of the vaccine.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 case number is 38 (3.1 per 100,000).  A chart comparing today’s average to data collected over the past several months is available at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness/covid-19/seven-day-average-of-new-covid-cases.

Vaccines Reported

An additional 20,981 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 1,194,535.

The additional 20,981 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered to residents living in the following zones: Far North West, 256; Far North Central, 3; Far North East, 165; North West, 524; North Central, 719; North East, 427; Saskatoon, 7,251; Central West, 642; Central East, 2,044; Regina, 5,904; South West, 460; South Central, 845; and South East, 1,150.  There were 591 doses administered with zone of residence pending.

Seventy per cent of those 12+ have received their first dose and forty-five per cent of those 12+ are fully vaccinated.

All vaccine administration details for the province, including first and second doses, can be found at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness.

All Residents 12+ Eligible for COVID-19 First and Second Dose Immunizations

All Saskatchewan residents 12 years and older who have received their first dose of vaccine are now eligible to receive their second dose following a 28-day interval.

Whether seeking your first or second dose, vaccination appointments can be booked through the Saskatchewan Health Authority online at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19 or by calling 1-833-SaskVax (1-833-727-5829).  Street addresses and hours of operation for drive-thru and walk-in clinics are available at www.saskatchewan.ca/drive-thru-vax.

A map of participating pharmacies across the province is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-pharmacies.  This online tool includes links to pharmacy booking websites and provides details on the vaccine brand being offered at each location.

More COVID-19 Numbers

There were 1,779 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on July 1, 2021.

To date, 920,303 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of June 29, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 773,493 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 967,456.

As of July 1, 12,175 Variants of Concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the following zones: Far North West, 317; Far North Central, 3; Far North East, 87; North West, 828; North Central, 633; North East, 80; Saskatoon, 2,116; Central West, 146; Central East, 651; Regina, 4,800; South West, 400; South Central, 888; and South East, 1,144.  There are 82 screened VOCs with residence pending.

There are no new lineage results reported for Variants of Concern today.  Of the 7,242 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 6,675 are Alpha (B.1.1.7), 348 are Gamma (P.1), 209 are Delta (B.1.617.2) and 10 are Beta (B.1.351).

Confirmed variant of concern cases may appear in both columns on the website, depending on testing for that case.  Adding the cases identified by screening and those that have received whole genome sequencing may result in double-counting individual cases.

Further statistics on the total number of cases among health care workers, breakdowns of total cases by source of infection, age, sex and region, total tests to date, per capita testing rate and current numbers of confirmed variants of concern can be found at http://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-cases.

COVID-19 Vaccination and Case Information Online

With declining COVID-19 case trends in the province, the daily COVID-19 vaccination and case news release will only be issued on weekdays going forward, with the exception of statutory holidays.

The COVID-19 dashboard, which contains all vaccination and case information including vaccines delivered, new and active cases, hospitalizations, testing, and status of variants of concern for the province will continue to be published seven days a week at this time.  The dashboard can be found at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-cases.

Limit COVID Transmission in your Community – Get Tested 

Getting tested assists the monitoring of active cases in the province, particularly with variants of concern in Saskatchewan.  Even if experiencing mild symptoms, stay home and seek a COVID-19 test.  Even if you have been recently vaccinated, it can take up to three weeks for your immune system to respond from a first dose and two weeks after a second dose.  Vaccines are not a cure preventing all possible transmission and you remain at risk of contracting COVID-19 during that time.

COVID-19 testing is available to all residents.  You can still receive a referral for COVID-19 testing through HealthLine 811 or a health care provider, and drive-thru testing sites are available without a referral seven days a week in Regina, Saskatoon, Yorkton and Prince Albert.  Information on symptoms to watch for and how to get tested is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-testing.

Saskatchewan’s Re-Opening Roadmap – All Public Health Measures to Be Lifted July 11

With more than 70 per cent of residents over the age of 12 having received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the full implementation of Step 3 of the Re-Opening Roadmap will occur on Sunday, July 11.

That means that as of Sunday, July 11, all public health orders will be removed.  This includes the removal of the province-wide mandatory masking order, and the removal of limits on events and gathering sizes.