Sask. hockey player resting at home after neck slashed by skate
9h ago
'Considering the circumstances ... this is best-case scenario,' Cole Cusitar said.
While vaccinations continue to pick up speed, Saskatchewan is seeing higher numbers of new COVID-19 cases and four more deaths.
COVID-related fatalities are being reported in the 60-to-69 age group in the northeast (one) and southeast (one) zones, with deaths in the 80-and-over age group in the Saskatoon (one) and southeast (one) zones.
That increases the province’s death toll from the pandemic to 210 people.
The province’s daily update includes 382 new cases of the virus, the second-highest daily tally since early December.
These new diagnoses were reported in the Saskatoon (88), far northwest (46), northwest (45), Regina (42), north-central (38), northeast (36), southeast (30), far northeast (24), central-east (14), south-central (four), far north-central (two), central-west (two) and southwest (one) zones. Another 10 cases have not yet been applied to a specific location.
The seven-day average number of new cases has increased as well, up to 320. According to the federal government, Saskatchewan still has the highest rate of active COVID cases per 100,000 residents at 329; Alberta is the next-highest province, with 284 cases per 100,000 people.
The increases follow Thursday’s update, in which chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab insisted Saskatchewan’s health system is at its “most fragile point” in the entire pandemic right now.
Hospitalizations have reached a new record, with 210 people in hospital. Intensive care hospitalizations have occurred in the Saskatoon (15), Regina (11), north-central (five), northwest (two), central-east (one), and south-central (one) areas.
Inpatient cases are found in Saskatoon (48), Regina (40), north-central (36), northwest (11), southeast (10), central-east (nine), far northwest (three), far north-central (two), far northeast (one), and southwest (one) regions.
The total number of active cases is now over 4,000 for the first time since mid-December, at 4,010.
Health-care workers are seeing higher numbers of positive cases, with 998 reported since the pandemic began. However, that represents a 31 per cent increase in the number of cases since Jan. 1.
The total number of vaccinations increased by 2,032 since Thursday’s report, bringing the total number of vaccinations up to 14,017. Data from the far north-central zone hasn’t been reported, so that number could rise.