For a second day, there are no new deaths to report in the provincial government’s COVID-19 update, but there are 249 new cases and there have been 236 recoveries.
There were fewer vaccine doses administered on Monday, because of availability issues, but the province says Pfizer shipments are expected today (Tues) in Regina and Saskatoon, and then in North Battleford, Prince Albert and Yorkton on Wednesday.
Regina continues to have the largest number of new cases, with 102, followed by Saskatoon at 55.
The number of variants of concern has increased by 194 to 5,027 and the province now has a third variant.
The vast majority of Saskatchewan’s variants are the U.K. variant, then five cases of the South African variant and now five cases of the Brazilian variant.
There are 195 people in the hospital with 51 in intensive care

Vaccines Reported
An additional 5,278 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 357,447.
The 5,278 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered to residents living in the following regions: Far North West (29), Far North Central (2), Far North East (56), North West (154), North Central (540), North East (86), Saskatoon (2,503), Central West (166), Central East (392), Regina (657), South West (32), South Central (262) and South East (256). There were 143 doses administered with zone of residence pending.
Fifty-one per cent of Saskatchewan residents age 40+ have received their first dose:
Status of Priority Population Vaccinations, as of April 19, 2021

All vaccine administration details for the province, including first and second doses, can be found on the dashboard at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness. As the source database for vaccine information, Panorama is subject to continuous data updates which may result in revised counts, day over day.

The Pfizer shipments are expected to arrive in Regina and Saskatoon later today. The shipments for North Battleford, Prince Albert, and Yorkton are expected Wednesday, April 21. Saskatchewan Pfizer allocations for the month of May have increased to 63,180 doses and to 74,880 doses for June.

Daily COVID-19 Statistics
There are 249 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on April 20, bringing the provincial total to 38,651 cases. Six cases with pending residence information were assigned to the Saskatoon (1), Regina (4) and Central West (1) zones. One case found to be an out-of-province resident was removed from the pending residence total. Two (2) cases not previously reported were added to Central East (1) and pending residence (1) totals.
The new cases are located in the Far North West (2), Far North East (2), North West (19), North Central (17), North East (1), Saskatoon (55), Central West (6), Central East (13), Regina (102), South West (7), South Central (7) and South East (16) zones. Two (2) new cases have pending residence information.

There are a total of 35,546 recoveries and 2,640 cases are considered active.
One hundred and ninety-five (195) people are in hospital. One hundred and forty-four (144) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (1), Far North East (1), North West (3), North Central (5), North East (1), Saskatoon (45), Central West (1), Central East (6), Regina (69), South West (1), South Central (4) and South East (7). Fifty-one (51) people are in intensive care: North Central (2), Saskatoon (10), Central East (1), Regina (35) and South Central (3).

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 case number was 247 (20.2 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 at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness/covid-19/seven-day-average-of-new-covid-cases.

There were 3,243 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on April 19, 2021.
To date, 734,832 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of April 18, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 616,530 tests performed per million population. The national rate was 790,447 tests performed per million population.

As of April 19, 5,027 variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the Far North West (35), Far North East (2), North West (89), North Central (64), North East (6), Saskatoon (497), Central West (71), Central East (185), Regina (2,990), South West (118), South Central (404) and South East (500) zones. There are 66 cases with residence pending.
There are one hundred and forty-two (142) new lineage results reported today. Of the 2,060 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 2,046 are B.1.1.1.7 (UK), nine (9) are B.1.351 (SA) and five (5) are P.1. (Brazilian). These are the first P.1 (Brazilian) variants detected in the province. The Regina zone accounts for 1,475 (72 per cent) of the VOC cases with confirmed lineage reported in Saskatchewan.

Please note that these VOCs may have been initially identified via means other than screening (i.e. selection for whole genome sequencing without screening) and that whole genome sequencing results to identify lineage are included in the screening results.
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 healthcare 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.

All Public Health Measures Extended to May 10
Due to increased COVID-19 transmission risk throughout the province, the Chief Medical Health Officer has extended all current provincial public health orders until May 10, 2021. The orders will be reviewed at that time.
Current public health orders restrict all private indoor gatherings to immediate household only and limit outdoor gatherings to maximum of 10 people. Physical distancing of at least two metres between households must be maintained.
Due to increased COVID-19 transmission risk, additional restrictions are in place for Regina and area including: all restaurants and licensed establishments must remain closed for in-person dining, with take-out and delivery permitted.
Travel is also not recommended in or out of the Regina area unless absolutely necessary. It is strongly recommended that all individuals able to work from home do so.

Full details on current public health measures can be found at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-measures.
All residents are urged to adhere to best personal protective measures:
• Wear your mask in all public places including all workplaces
• Wash non-medical masks daily
• Maintain physical distancing
• Wash your hands frequently
• Reduce activities outside of your home. Order take-out or curbside pick-up. If you are able to work from home, work from home at this time.
• Avoid all unnecessary travel throughout the province at this time

If you have any symptoms, stay home and arrange for a COVID-19 test. If anyone in your home has symptoms, the entire household should remain home until the test results are known. Testing information is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/testing-information.

Updates to Guidelines for Sports and Activities (Individual Outdoor Non-Contact Sports)
Public health guidance for individual, outdoor non-contact sports (tennis, pickleball, etc.) has been updated at www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/re-open-saskatchewan-plan/guidelines/outdoor-sports-and-activities-guidelines. Note that the risk of transmission of COVID-19 remains high, with the risk variants of concern throughout the province. The Ministry of Health will continue to review all outdoor event guidance relative to this risk and may be updated at any point, as required. Planned events and activities must abide by the guidance in place at the time of the event/activity.

As of April 20, the guidelines regarding outdoor gatherings remain in effect: outdoor gatherings are limited to ten individuals, with individual households maintaining physical distancing of two metres from other individual households. There is no shared food or drink permitted.

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.