For the second time in three days, Saskatchewan had a double-digit, single-day death toll due to COVID-19. According to Thursday’s update from the Ministry of Health, there were 11 fatalities bringing the provincial death toll because of the novel coronavirus to 285. A person in their 40s from the Far North East zone was the youngest to perish in Thursday’s report while six people in the 80-plus age bracket died. There were also two deaths to individuals in their 60s and 70s.

       Otherwise, the active cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan edged down slightly to 2,478 as 244 new cases were recorded from 2,575 processed tests while 282 people recovered. In total, the province has had 23,038 reported cases of the virus while 20,275 individuals have recovered. Of the 2,478 active cases, 208 people are in hospital with 37 infections receiving care in an I-C-U.

       As for vaccinations, five zones combined to administer 118 doses on Wednesday for a total of 34,672.

There were 118 administered doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported Wednesday in Saskatchewan – this brings the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 34,672.   As of January 28, 106 per cent of the doses received have been administered.  This overage is due to efficiencies in drawing extra doses from vials of vaccine received.

The doses were administered in the following zones: Far North Central (10), North West (12), North Central (11), Central East (55) and South East (30).  Back-dated corrections submitted for January 19-25 have realized 61 vaccinations reported in error.  These have been removed from the counts.

For a listing of first and second doses in Saskatchewan administered by geographic zone, visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine-update.

A shipment of 5,850 doses of Pfizer vaccine will be arriving in Saskatchewan the week of February 1.  This shipment will be divided between the Lloydminster, Spiritwood, Saskatoon, Regina, Swift Current and Moosomin areas and used to continue vaccinating priority populations.

Daily COVID-19 Statistics

There are 244 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on January 28, 2021, bringing the provincial total to date to 23,038 cases.

Eleven Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.  One reported death was in the 40-49 age group from the Far North East (1) zone; two reported deaths were in the 60-69 age group from the North Central (1) and Saskatoon (1) zones; two reported deaths were in the 70-79 age group from the Far North East (1) and North West (1) zones; and six reported deaths were in the 80+ age group from the Saskatoon (2) and Regina (4) zones.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (25), Far North Central (7), Far North East (14), North West (20), North Central (13), North East (6), Saskatoon (70), Central West (5), Central East (10), Regina (54), South Central (4) and South East (16) zones.

Five cases with pending residence information were assigned to the Far North East (1), North West (1), North Central (2) and South East (1) zones.

A total of 20,275 individuals have recovered and 2,478 cases are considered active.

Two hundred and eight (208) people are in hospital. One hundred and seventy-one (171) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (5), Far North East (1), North West (14), North Central (27), North East (4), Saskatoon (66), Central West (1), Central East (11), Regina (38), South West (1), South Central (1) and South East (2).  Thirty-seven (37) people are in intensive care: North West (3), North Central (2), Saskatoon (18), Central East (1), Regina (12) and South West (1).

There were 2,575 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on January 27, 2021.

To date, 500,043 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of January 26, 2021 when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 283,057 people tested per million population.  The national rate was 457,522 people tested per million population.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 244 (19.9 new cases per 100,000 population).

The Ministry of Health is updating data reporting systems.  As such, it is anticipated that the COVID-19 dashboard will be unavailable until Monday, February 1.  The case news release and map of current cases will continue to be issued daily based on a separate data reporting process.

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.

Public Health Measures

Enforcement of public health orders is permitted under The Public Health Act, 1994.  Public health inspectors will be supported in their efforts to ticket violators quickly, 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.