There are 136 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on Feb. 16, bringing the provincial total to 26,829 cases. There were also 529 recoveries between Feb. 15 and 16.
Limited data was reported on Feb. 15 due to the statutory holiday. The below information provides a detailed breakdown of the 136 new cases reported on Feb. 16 and the 143 cases reported on Feb. 15.
Three Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died. One death was reported in the 40-49 age group from the Far North West zone, one death was reported in the 80+ age group from the Far North West zone and one death was reported in the 50-59 age group from the North West zone.
There were two new cases of COVID-19 in the South East region the past two days, one on Feb. 15 and one on Feb. 16. Estevan’s Zone 4 didn’t report any new cases on Feb. 16, and there is a total of seven active cases.
The other new cases reported on Feb. 15 and 16 are located in the Far North West (22), Far North Central (5), Far North East (10), North West (44), North Central (22), North East (17), Saskatoon (69), Central West (9), Central East (9), Regina (62) and South Central (4) zones and four (4) new cases have pending residence information.
Six cases with pending residence information were assigned to the Far North West (1) and North West (5) zones.
There have been 24,861 recoveries to date. On Feb. 15, there were 265 recoveries. On Feb. 16 there were 264 recoveries.
One thousand six hundred and eleven cases are considered active.
One hundred and eighty-four (184) people are in hospital. One hundred and sixty-four (164) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (4), Far North Central (1), Far North East (2), North West (17), North Central (20), North East (1), Saskatoon (60), Central West (1), Central East (11), Regina (41), South West (1), South Central (1) and South East (4). Twenty people are in intensive care: North Central (1), Saskatoon (10), Central East (1), and Regina (8).
There were 3,691 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan over the past two days. 2,254 on February 14, 2021 and 1,437 on February 15, 2021.
To date, 547,277 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of Feb. 14, , when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan's per capita rate was 460,405 tests performed per million population. The national rate was 607,982 tests performed per million population.
The seven-day average of daily new cases is 167 (13.6 new cases per 100,000) and is now available on the Government of Saskatchewan website.
Vaccine Delivery
There were 22 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered yesterday in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 49,841. With this, 107 per cent of the doses received have been administered to date. This overage is due to efficiencies in drawing extra doses from vials of vaccine received.
Due to the Family Day stat holiday, there has been delayed reporting for Feb. 15 vaccine administration. The 22 doses reported to date were administered in the North East zone. The South East zone has reported an additional 10 doses administered on Feb. 12.
For a listing of first and second doses in Saskatchewan administered by geographic zone, visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine-update.
Additional health care workers added to Phase 1 priority sequencing
Following a review of the vaccine delivery plan, the Ministry of Health has added additional health care workers to the priority sequencing previously established for Phase 1 of the vaccine delivery plan.
Additional health care workers included in priority sequencing for Phase 1 include:
- Individuals directly involved in delivering COVID-19 immunizations in Phase 2 including physicians (up to 2,600), pharmacists (up to 1,200) and other SHA health care providers involved in delivering COVID-19 immunizations;
- Anesthesia/operating rooms;
- All other critical care areas;
- Hemodialysis;
- Vaccination teams;
- Radiology technicians;
- ECG/echo;
- Phlebotomy/lab workers handling COVID-19 specimens; and
- Home care (direct care providers).
The amended priority sequencing will add an estimated 11,500 people to the Phase 1 priority population sequencing.
Phase 1 prioritization of individuals and health care workers initially sequenced continues. Health care workers previously announced in the Phase 1 priority sequencing include: health care workers in emergency departments, intensive care units, COVID-19 wards and COVID testing and assessment staff. Other individuals initially included in Phase 1 sequencing include: Long-term care and personal care home residents and staff, residents 70 and older in all communities, and residents over the age of 50 living in remote or northern Saskatchewan.
Phase 2 of the vaccine delivery plan remains unchanged and will continue as previously announced. Phase 2 will focus on the general population in 10 year increments, starting with ages 60 to 69. Phase 2 will continue to provide targeted access for adults and staff in group homes for persons with intellectual disabilities and shelters, and adults identified as clinically extremely vulnerable.
