Latest COVID update March 11: 0 deaths, 165 new cases, 153 recoveries

The Regina region remains Saskatchewan’s hotspot for COVID-19.

In its daily update Thursday, the Ministry of Health said 51 of the 165 new cases it was reporting were in the Regina area.

There have been 502 new cases in the zone in March, far and away the highest of any region in the province.

Of the 1,395 cases currently considered active in Saskatchewan, 441 are in the Regina area — again, the highest total in any zone. The region also has recorded 62 of the province’s 70 cases of COVID variants.

“With an increase of community transmission of variants of concern in Regina, public health officials are asking all those who live and work in Regina to recommit to best prevention practices to protect against COVID-19,” the ministry said in its release, referring to mask use, physical distancing and hand-washing.

“Many of Regina’s outbreaks are a result of people of going to work and public places while symptomatic.”

The latest outbreaks in the region include ones at K-Bro Linen Systems, Weston Foods, Extendicare Elmview, Continental Engine Rebuilders Ltd., and the Mother and Baby Unit at the Regina General Hospital.

The other new cases reported Thursday were in the Saskatoon (24), far northeast (24), northwest (19), north-central (12), central-east (nine), northeast (seven), southeast (six), southwest (four), south-central (four), far northwest (three), far north-central (one) and central-east (one) zones.

The seven-day average of daily new cases in the province is 139, or 11.3 per 100,000 population.

One out-of-province resident was removed from the Saskatchewan total; that number now stands at 30,193.

There weren’t any deaths reported due to COVID in the province Thursday. To date, 401 people have died due to the virus.

The 153 recoveries announced Thursday hiked that total so far to 28,397.

Of the 137 people in Saskatchewan hospitals due to COVID, 27 are in intensive care. There are 12 cases in the Regina region, 11 in the Saskatoon area, two in the central-east zone and one in each of the northwest and north-central areas.

There were 2,850 COVID tests processed in Saskatchewan on Wednesday; the provincial total now stands at 602,992.

Saskatchewan’s per-capita rate as of Tuesday was 506,352 tests performed per million population, well below the national rate of 669,084.

Vaccination update

There were 1,493 COVID vaccine doses given Wednesday in Saskatchewan, with 665 in the Regina region, 432 in the Saskatoon area, 347 in the north-central zone, 33 in the central-east area, 10 in the southeast and six in the northwest.

The total number of shots given in the province now stands at 95,879.

According to the government, residents of 56 per cent of long-term care homes across Saskatchewan now have received both doses and are considered fully vaccinated. For personal care homes, that number stands at 45 per cent.