Latest COVID update April 11: Record high vaccines given, cases continue to rise

It was another mixed bag of highs and lows for Saskatchewan released in the latest COVID update.

The Ministry of Health reported Sunday that, for the third straight day in a row, a record number of daily vaccine doses were given.

However, more than 300 new cases were reported for the second time in three days.

There were 321 new cases of the virus across Saskatchewan in the Regina (120), Saskatoon (78), southeast (36), northwest (21), south-central (17), central-east (12), far northwest (six), far northeast (two), north-central (eight), central-west (four) and southwest (three) areas. The location has been discovered for three previously reported cases as the northwest (two) and far northwest (one) zones.

Four cases that were previously unreported were assigned to the Saskatoon (two) and southeast (two) zones, while 3 cases were found to be people from out-of-province and were removed from Saskatchewan’s total.

With the exception of Friday, it’s the highest daily case total since Jan. 22, when 312 cases were reported.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is now 249, or 20.3 cases per 100,000 people.

Another 198 recoveries were reported. The active caseload sits at 2,504.

There were also 59 variant cases identified. So far there have been 3,271 variants cases in the Regina (2,271), southeast (310), south-central (286), Saskatoon (171), central-west (82), north-central (39), southwest (28), central-west (12), far northwest (seven), northwest (nine), northeast (three) and far northeast regions. The location is also under investigation for 52 variant cases.

Also reported in the update was one new death, someone in their 60’s from the central-east area. Since last March, 454 people have died with the virus in Saskatchewan.

There are 199 people in the hospital, with 46 in intensive care in the Regina (25), Saskatoon (nine), north-central (five), central-east (three), south-central (three) and southwest (one) regions.

Vaccination update

The Ministry of Health reported that 13,170 new vaccine doses were administered in its Sunday update. It’s the third day in a row it has reported a record-high number.

So far, there have been 282,065 total doses given, while 41,134 people are fully vaccinated.

Half of the people in Saskatchewan who are 50 or older have received their first dose.

The new doses were given in the Regina (3,085), Saskatoon (2,072), central-east (1,427), south-central (1020), northwest (811), southwest (725), central-west (692), north-central (397), far northwest (223), far northeast (78) and far north-central (one) areas.