Latest COVID update June 13: Saskatchewan inches closer to final reopening threshold

Saskatchewan continues to gain ground in the battle against COVID.

In its daily update Sunday, the Ministry of Health reported that just one per cent more of adults in Saskatchewan need to get their first COVID vaccine to nail down the date of the reopening plan’s Step 3 to July 11.

Sixty-nine per cent of adults have their first dose, while it’s 67 per cent for those aged 12 and up.

Once the first group hits 70 per cent it will trigger the threshold for step 3 of the Re-Opening Roadmap. Most public health measures will be lifted at that time.

Vaccines continue to roll out in the tens of thousands in Saskatchewan.

Another 14,849 people rolled up their sleeves in the latest reporting period.

Of those, 2,723 were first doses, with the other 11,766 being second shots.

So far, 203,574 people are fully immunized.

Starting Monday, the age of eligibility for a second dose goes down once again. Anyone who’s 50 or older, or who had their first shot on or before April 15, can roll up their sleeve for a second time.

A look at the numbers

As vaccinations continue to trend upwards, it’s the opposite for case numbers.

There were 65 new infections and 131 recoveries. That bumped the active case total down to 809 — the lowest it’s been since Nov. 4, 2020 when Saskatchewan had 799 active cases.

The seven-day average of daily new cases now sits at 78, or 6.4 cases per 100,000 people.

The new cases were reported in the Saskatoon (14), south-central (14), Regina (11), southeast (nine), far northwest (four), northwest (four), north-central (four), southwest (four) and far northeast (one) areas.

Two previously reported cases were added to the north-central area.

There are 95 people in hospital with the virus across Saskatchewan. Of those, 20 are in the ICU in the Regina (seven), Saskatoon (six), north-central (three), northwest (two), central-east (one) and southwest (one) areas.

No new deaths were reported Sunday.