Number of active cases of COVID-19 in Sask. keeps growing

There are 168 new cases of COVID-19 and 105 recoveries to report in Saskatchewan on March 25, bringing the provincial total to 32,346 cases.

Two (2) Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died. The deaths were reported in the 40 to 49 age group from the North Central zone and the 70 to 79 age group from the Central East zone.

South East Zone region reported 24 new case, with five in Estevan’s Zone 4 (26 active cases), five in South East Zone 1, four in South East Zone 3 and 10 in Weyburn’s Zone 3.

The other new cases are located in the Far North West (2), Far North East (3), North West (3), North Central (2), North East (1), Saskatoon (25), Central West (3), Central East (19), Regina (70) and South Central (11) zones.

Five (5) new cases are pending residence information. Eight cases with pending residence have been assigned to the following zones: Far North West (1), North Central (2), North West (2), Regina (1), South Central (1), and South East (1). Three duplicate cases have been removed from the Far North East (1), North West (1) and Saskatoon (1) zones.

There are a total of 30,301 recoveries and 1,623 cases are considered active.  

One hundred fifty-four (154) people are in hospital. One hundred and thirty-two (132) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (1), Far North East (1), North West (5), North Central (5), North East (1), Saskatoon (41), Central East (8), Regina (56), South West (2), South Central (3) and South East (9). Twenty-two (22) people are in intensive care: Saskatoon (6), Central East (2), South Central (2) and Regina (12).

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 181 (14.7 new cases per 100,000).  

There were 3,370 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on March 24. 

To date, 643,629 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of March 23, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan's per capita rate was 539,221 tests performed per million population. The national rate was 706,705 tests performed per million population.

As of March 24, 1064 variants of concern (VOC) have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the Far North East (1), North Central (1), Saskatoon (18), Central East (20), Regina (895), South Central (63) and South East (66) 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.  

There are 118 new lineage results reported today. Of the 478 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 470 are B1.1.1.7 (UK) and eight are B1.351 (SA). The Regina zone accounts for 400 (or 84 per cent) of the VOC cases with confirmed lineage reported in Saskatchewan. Please note that these VOC 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, 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.  

Vaccination progress

An additional 4,247 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 155,754.

The 4,247 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered in the following regions: Far North West (170), North Central (18), North East (633), Saskatoon (1,289), Central West (340), Central East (40), South Central (157), South East (182) and Regina (1,418). 

The appointment booking system has expanded to include residents 62 years and older.  These residents are encouraged to book their COVID-19 vaccination and can do so online or by phone.  Additional information on eligibility and how to book your appointment is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine-booking. 

More than two-thirds of Saskatchewan residents age 80 and over and 30 per cent of Saskatchewan residents in their 70s have now received their first dose.

*An individual may be counted in more than one category (e.g., an 85 year-old LTC resident will be counted in the LTC resident category, the 70+ category and the 80+ category).  Effective March 5, Saskatchewan implemented the delayed second dose policy.  This does not apply to residents of LTC and PCH and those priority Phase 1 individuals who had scheduled appointments to receive their second dose.  All populations receiving vaccinations after March 5 will receive their second dose after all Saskatchewan adults have been offered their first dose. 

For a listing of first and second doses in Saskatchewan administered by geographic zone, visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine-update.