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Three New COVID-19-Related Deaths While Vaccine Roll-Out Ramps Up in Saskatchewan

By Les Lazaruk Feb 19, 2021 | 1:54 PM
       Thanks to a new shipment of vaccine, 2,403 doses were administered in eight different Saskatchewan zones on Thursday as Phase One of vaccine delivery ramped up again in the province…totaling 53,030 administered doses. However, that news was tempered by the report of three new deaths due to COVID-19 in Friday’s update from the Ministry of Health. A person in their 50s from the North West zone, another in their 70s from the South Central zone and the third fatality from Regina…a senior in the 80-plus age bracket…upped Saskatchewan’s death toll because of positive novel coronavirus cases to 365.
       Otherwise, Friday’s update showed a second straight day of 146 new cases of COVID-19. But, the positive test rate was only 5.4% as there were more than 500 more tests processed in Friday’s report as opposed to Thursday. Add in 77 new recoveries and Saskatchewan’s active virus case count is at 1,582…172 of those cases in a provincial hospital with 19 infections in an I-C-U.

Vaccine Delivery

There were 2,403 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered Thursday in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 53,030.

The 2,403 doses were administered in the Far North West (33), Far North East (40), Far North Central (11), North West (17), Central East (1,014), Regina (832) and Saskatoon (456). T he Central West zone has reported an additional 33 doses administered on February 8.  The Far North West zone has reported an additional 10 doses administered on February 16 and an additional 31 doses on February 17.  The Far North Central zone has reported an additional 10 doses administered on February 17.  The South Central zone has reported an additional 78 doses administered on February 17.

With Pfizer vaccine shipments arriving this week, Phase One vaccination clinics will resume today and run throughout the weekend to ensure timely administration of the vaccine.

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.

Daily COVID-19 Statistics

There are 146 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on February 19, bringing the provincial total to 27,245 cases.

Three Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.  One death was reported in the 50-59 age group from the North West zone, one death was reported in 80+ age group from the Regina zone, and one death was reported in the 70-79 age group from the South Central zone.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (13), Far North Central (1), Far North East (9), North West (16), North Central (26), North East (2), Saskatoon (32), Central East (11), Regina (30), South West (1), South Central (1) and South East (4) zones. Two (2) cases with pending residence information were assigned to the Regina zone (1 from Feb 13 and 1 from Feb 14).

There are a total of 25,298 recoveries and 1,582 cases are considered active.

One hundred and seventy-two (172) people are in hospital.  One hundred and fifty-three (153) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (4), Far North Central (1), Far North East (2), North West (16), North Central (13), North East (2), Saskatoon (56), Central West (2), Central East (9), Regina (43), South Central (1) and South East (4).  Nineteen (19) people are in intensive care: North West (1), North Central (2), Saskatoon (11), Central East (1), and Regina (4).

There were 2,724 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on February 18, 2021.

Please note that, like most categories of statistics reported, daily testing numbers include those pending by location as noted in the footnotes daily on the Tests By Region page in the dashboard.  Total testing numbers will include tests that are still pending by location; those numbers will not appear in the regional statistics until they are assigned.

To date, 554,007 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of February 17, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 465,064 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 614,953 tests performed per million population.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 157 (12.8 new cases per 100,000) and is now available on the Government of Saskatchewan website.  This chart compares today’s average to data collected over the past several months.  Please visit https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness/covid-19/seven-day-average-of-new-covid-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 and the per capita testing rate can be found on the Government of Saskatchewan website.  Please visit 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.

Assess Your Risk and Get Tested

The Government of Saskatchewan continues to recommend against all non-essential travel.  International travelers must abide by federal testing and quarantine measures.  If you have chosen to travel inter-provincially during the break week, get tested as soon as you return to Saskatchewan and plan for a follow up test seven days later.

The presence of new variants across Canada means an elevated risk of bringing more transmissible strains of COVID-19 home with you.   While you cannot test your way out of travel risks, testing is the best tool available to protect your family, friends and all residents of Saskatchewan against COVID-19 if you have travelled.

You do not need to be experiencing symptoms in order to have COVID-19.  Finding testing options near you at https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/testing-information.