There are 124 new cases of COVID-19 and 189 recoveries to report in Saskatchewan on Feb. 17, bringing the provincial total to 26,953 cases.
Five Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died. One death was reported in the 30-39 age group from the Saskatoon zone, one death was reported in 50-59 age group from the Regina zone, and three (3) deaths were reported in the 80+ age group from the North West (1), Regina (1) and Saskatoon (1) zones.
There are no new cases in the South East region. Estevan’s Zone 4 currently has four active cases.
The new cases are located in the Far North West (16), Far North Central (4), Far North East (5), North West (14), North Central (12), Saskatoon (9), Central West (5), Central East (3), Regina (48), South Central (1) and seven (7) new cases have pending residence information.
There are a total of 25,050 recoveries and 1,541 cases are considered active.
One hundred and seventy-eight (178) people are in hospital. One hundred and fifty-five (155) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (3), Far North Central (1), Far North East (2), North West (15), North Central (15), North East (2), Saskatoon (58), Central West (1), Central East (9), Regina (42), South West (1), South Central (1) and South East (5). Twenty-three people are in intensive care: North Central (2), Saskatoon (12), Central East (1), and Regina (8).
There were 1,800 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on Feb. 16.
To date, 549,077 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of Feb. 15, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan's per capita rate was 462,318 tests performed per million population. The national rate was 609,827 tests performed per million population.
The seven-day average of daily new cases is 160 (13.0 new cases per 100,000).
Vaccine Delivery
There were 271 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered yesterday in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 50,326. With this, 108 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.
The 271 doses were administered in the Far North West (41), Far North Central (19), Far North East (11), North East (155), North Central (35), and Central East (10) zones. The Far North West zone has reported an additional 214 doses administered on Feb. 8, 9, and 12.
There are 877 doses remaining in the Far North zones, which will accommodate second dose schedules. These second doses are expected to be administered by Feb. 25. This week's 12,870 Pfizer doses are expected to arrive in Regina and Saskatoon on Feb. 17 and Yorkton, Swift Current, and North Battleford on Feb. 18.
Note that we remain in Phase One of vaccine delivery, targeting residents and staff of long-term and personal-care homes, identified health care providers, residents 70 years and older and residents aged 50 and older in remote/Northern Saskatchewan. Eligible populations will be contacted directly to receive their vaccinations.
Registration for appointments for Phase Two sequenced populations will be available when Phase Two commences. Please do not contact HealthLine 811 to register for vaccinations at this time. Notification will be provided when the registration system is available.
For a listing of first and second doses in Saskatchewan administered by geographic zone, visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine-update.
Get Tested for COVID-19
While Saskatchewan has been supporting asymptomatic COVID-19 testing throughout the pandemic event, symptomatic residents were advised to get tested 48 hours after symptom onset to reduce the risk of false negative test results.
Recent guidance from the European Centre for Disease Control and the increased risk of variants of concern in Canada has resulted in an update to the policy: if you are symptomatic, get tested for COVID-19 immediately. Asymptomatic testing remains available. High rates of testing allow public health to effectively track transmission in our province; effective self-isolation and contact investigations will prevent additional COVID-19 cases.
If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, even if they are mild, get tested as soon as possible. Anyone who receives a negative test result but continues to experience symptoms should be retested. Getting tested and knowing your status is an important step to protecting yourself and others against COVID-19.
