The province has changed the way it reports the number of COVID-19 variants in Saskatchewan.
It used to be divided between confirmed cases and presumed cases, but as of today (Tues), they are being reported as one total.
There are now 891 variants of concern with 763 in Regina, 56 in the South Central area, 43 in the Southeast, 18 in Saskatoon, 10 in Central East and one in the far Northeast.
There are 150 new cases of the virus for a provincial total to date of 31,991 cases.
A person in their sixties from the South Central zone has died, for a total now of 419 deaths related to COVID-19.
Also today, the province is reporting 152 recoveries leaving the total number of active cases at 1,472.
There are 152 people being treated in the hospital and 26 of those are in intensive care.
An additional 5,038 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered on Monday with over half of those in Regina.

Vaccines Reported
An additional 5,038 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 149,209.
The 5,038 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered in the following regions: Far North West (112), Far North East (11), North West (12), North Central (20), Saskatoon (626), Central West (313), Central East (218), Regina (2,948), South West (158) and South East (620).
Of the doses administered March 22, 1,873 were delivered at the Regina drive thru clinic.
For a listing of first and second doses in Saskatchewan administered by geographic zone, visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine-update.

Residents 67 years and older are currently eligible to book their COVID-19 vaccination online or by phone. Additional information on eligibility and how to book your appointment is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine/vaccine-booking.

Daily COVID-19 Statistics
There are 150 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on March 23, bringing the provincial total to 31,991 cases.
One (1) Saskatchewan resident who tested positive for COVID-19 has died. The death was reported in the 60 to 69 age group from the South Central zone.
The new cases are located in the Far North West (1), Far North Central (1), Far North East (1), North West (9), North Central (8), North East (12), Saskatoon (8), Central East (8), Regina (91), South West (1), South Central (3) and South East (6) zones. One (1) new case is pending residence information.
Three previously reported cases with pending residence information have been assigned to the North Central (1) and Regina (2) zones. One case previously assigned to Saskatoon zone was deemed to be an out of province resident and has been removed.

There are a total of 30,100 recoveries and 1,472 cases are considered active.
One hundred fifty-two (152) people are in hospital. One hundred and twenty-six (126) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (4), Far North East (1), North West (6), North Central (6), North East (1), Saskatoon (42), Central East (9), Regina (45), South West (2), South Central (4) and South East (6). Twenty-six (26) people are in intensive care: Saskatoon (8), Central East (2), Regina (15) and South Central (1).

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 158 (12.9 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.

There were 3,209 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on March 22, 2021.
To date, 636,484 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of March 22, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 534,111 tests performed per million population. The national rate was 702,650 tests performed per million population.

As of March 23, 891 variants of concern (VOC) have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the Far North East (1), Saskatoon (18), Central East (10), Regina (763), South Central (56) and South East (43) zones. These 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. Please note that these VOC may have been initially identified via means other than screening (i.e. selection for whole genome sequencing without screening).

There are 204 new lineage results reported today. Of the 360 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 352 are B1.1.1.7 (UK) and eight are B1.351 (SA). The Regina zone accounts for 312 (or 87 per cent) of the VOC cases with confirmed lineage reported in Saskatchewan.

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, the per capita testing rate and current numbers of confirmed variants of concern 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.

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.

General COVID-19 Information
General public inquiries may be directed to COVID19@health.gov.sk.ca.
Know your risk. Keep yourself and others safe. www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/about-covid-19/know-your-risk.