Three New Variant Cases of COVID-19 Detected in Saskatchewan…Total Now up to Nine

       An additional three confirmed cases of the B-1-1-7 U-K variant of COVID-19 have been detected in Saskatchewan following the testing of samples at the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory in Regina. That brings the provincial total of variant cases of the novel coronavirus to nine…eight of the U-K strain and the other being the B-1-351-South African variant. Two of the most recent cases were found in the Regina area and the other in the North West zone, including conformation of a presumptive case from February 23rd.

       Otherwise, a person in their 60s from Saskatoon is the 399th fatality in Saskatchewan because of COVID-19. Plus, the number of hospitalized viruses is up to 140 in the province, including 23 infections being treated in an I-C-U. For the first time since February 24th, fewer than 100 new cases of COVID-19 were in the daily update from the Ministry of Health. Fifty of the 97 new cases of the novel coronavirus Monday are from the Regina zone. Coupled with 151 new recoveries and the active case count is at 1,463. The seven-day average for new cases dropped slightly to 144.

       In addition, three zones had 892 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered on Sunday for a total of 92,776.

COVID-19 Variant Cases Update

As of March 8, 2021, the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory (RRPL) is reporting an additional three (3) confirmed cases of the B1.1.7 UK variant — two in the Regina zone and one in the North West zone, including the confirmation of the presumptive positive case reported February 23.  This brings the provincial total of confirmed variant of concern cases to nine: eight (8) B1.1.7 UK and one (1) B1.351 SA.

In order to monitor for variants of concern, the RRPL will continue to focus whole genome sequencing testing on COVID positive results linked to international travel, declared outbreaks and cases of unexpected severe illness, as well as a random sampling of confirmed cases.  The province will continue to send up to 120 samples per week to the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg to ensure a larger sample size.

All residents with a confirmed COVID-19 test are required to isolate to reduce the risk of transmission.  If required, public health will issue a public service announcement to alert the general public to any risk due to any confirmed case of a variant of concern.  The Government of Saskatchewan continues to plan for the impact of variants on COVID-19 including any required increase to public health measures and surge capacity planning.

The best protection against all COVID-19 variants remains the same as protection against COVID-19: stay home, physically distance, wash your hands frequently, wear a mask and get tested if you are experiencing even mild symptoms.

Find 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.

Daily COVID-19 Statistics

There are 97 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on March 7, bringing the provincial total to 29,806 cases.

One Saskatchewan resident who tested positive for COVID-19 has died.  This death was reported in the 60-69 age group from the Saskatoon zone.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (1), Far North East (5), North West (4), North Central (10), North East (3), Saskatoon (6), Central East (12), Regina (50), South Central (2) and South East (2) zones.  Two (2) cases are pending residence information.

There are a total of 27,944 recoveries and 1,463 cases are considered active.

One hundred and forty (140) people are in hospital.  One hundred and seventeen (117) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (3), Far North East (1), North West (11), North Central (8), North East (1), Saskatoon (47), Central East (3), Regina (40) and South East (3).  Twenty-three people are in intensive care: North Central (1), Saskatoon (12), Central East (2) and Regina (8).

There were 1,753 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on March 7, 2021.

To date, 595,869 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of March 6, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 501,355 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 662,012 tests performed per million population.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 144 (11.7 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.  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 https://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.

Vaccines Reported

An additional 892 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 92,776.

The 892 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered in the following regions: Far North Central (17), North Central (528) and Saskatoon (347).

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