Three more people have died in the province due to COVID-19.  Saskatchewan’s death toll rose to 404 after two people in their 70’s in the Regina and South Central zones and one person in their 50’s from Saskatoon passed away.  The province once again reported under 200 COVID-19 cases, but the 176 new cases outnumbered 131 recoveries.  Regina had the most new cases again with 67, while Saskatoon had less than half of that at 31.

The active case count is now at 1437, while 129 people are in Saskatchewan hospitals.  27 people remain in intensive care.

On the vaccine front the province announced appointment booking will be opened for people 76 and older on Saturday at 8 a.m.  This latest expansion after people 80 and over have been able to book vaccination appointments over the last couple of days.  People meeting this criteria can book their appointments online 24/7 using their health card at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine; or call 1-833-SASKVAX (1-833-727-5829) between the hours of 8 a.m. and 11 p.m.

On Monday in Regina, the AstraZeneca vaccine clinic opens for 64 year olds. Regina is opening a pilot Drive-Thru immunization clinic on the grounds of the Regina Exhibition Association for residents age 64 only and for all Phase 1 health care workers. Appointments cannot be pre-booked. The site will begin to open up to other ages in reverse order from oldest to youngest, in the days afterwards. At this time, the AstraZeneca vaccine is approved for use in Canada only for those aged 18 to 64 years.

Variants in Regina

Regina residents are urged to take additional precautions as there is increasing community transmission of COVID-19 Variants of Concern (VoC).

There are currently 70 confirmed cases of VoCs (64 B1.1.7 UK and 6 B1.351 SA) in Saskatchewan with 62 of those in the Regina area.  There are also an additional 77 presumptive positive Variants of Concern in Regina. These have not yet been confirmed with genome sequencing.

At this time, it is recommended that Regina and area residents:

• Particularly those that are over the age of 50 should consider not increasing their household bubbles to include 2-3 households up to 10 people.  They should consider remaining with their current household only.
• Limit travel and shopping to essential only.
• Stay home with even mildest symptoms. Stay home if you have been in contact with anyone with mild symptoms.
• Get tested if you have symptoms or have been exposed to someone with symptoms.
• Continue practicing physical distancing, frequent handwashing and wear a mask when in public places.

Regina Pilot Drive Thru Vaccine Site

The Drive-Thru site will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis. Only those who are 64 years of age as of Monday, March 15th will be eligible that day (with a birthdate between March 16, 1956 and March 15, 1957).  To allow convenient access for health care workers and to test the new process for the public, a clinic will be operated on Sunday, March 14.  Sunday’s drive thru immunization clinic is not open to the public.
The site will begin to open up other ages in reverse order from oldest to youngest, in the days afterwards. Please do not attend this clinic unless you have been advised your age is eligible.  The Saskatchewan Health Authority will issue a Public Service Announcement as each subsequent age groups become eligible.  Those announcements will also appear in the daily case news release.  At this time, the AstraZeneca vaccine is approved for use in Canada in those aged 18-64 only.

When you are eligible to receive a vaccine at the REAL location, please enter the grounds through the Lewvan and 11th Avenue entrance and follow the GREEN signs for the immunization Drive-Thru clinic.  If you are going to the appointment-only Immunization Clinic follow the BLUE signs.  For the COVID-19 drive-thru testing, follow the YELLOW signs.

Thursday’s New Cases

The new cases are located in the Far North West (1), Far North Central (1), Far North East (10), North West (16), North Central (11), North East (8), Saskatoon (31), Central East (18), Regina (67), South West (3), South Central (2) and South East (2) zones.  Six (cases) are pending location information. Two (2) cases with pending residence information were assigned to the Regina zone.

There are a total of 28,528 recoveries and 1,437 cases are considered active.

One hundred twenty-nine (129) people are in hospital.  One hundred and two (102) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (2), Far North East (1), North West (10), North Central (6), Saskatoon (43), Central East (5), Regina (32), South Central (1) and South East (2).  Twenty-seven (27) people are in intensive care: North West (1), North Central (1), Saskatoon (13), Central East (2) and Regina (10).

There were 2,990 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on March 11, 2021.

To date, 605,982 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of March 10, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 508,388 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 672,080 tests performed per million population.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 134 (11.0 new cases per 100,000), the lowest seven-day average since November 13.  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