Latest COVID update Oct. 14: 315 new cases, 5 more deaths

Five more Saskatchewan residents have died due to COVID-19 as the province continues to lead the country in COVID-related death rate.

According to the Government of Canada, Saskatchewan had as of Wednesday the worst weekly death rate in the country, at 2.6. Alberta and the Northwest Territories were next at 2.2.

The latest fatalities reported in the province comprised three people in the 80-and-over age group and one in each of the 40-to-59 and 60-to-79 age categories.

Two of the individuals who died were from the Regina region, with one from each of the central-east, south-central and southeast areas.

The province has announced at least one death due to COVID for 40 straight days. The death toll in the province to date as a result of the virus is 769.

Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Health also reported 315 new cases and 417 recoveries, dropping the active case count to 4,294. That’s the lowest that number has been since it was 4,234 on Sept. 17.

There also were 335 COVID patients in Saskatchewan health-care facilities, with 75 of those in intensive care.

A look at the numbers

One-fifth of the new cases reported in Saskatchewan on Thursday were people who had received two doses of a COVID vaccine.

There were 63 cases among people who were considered fully vaccinated, and 14 among those who were partially vaccinated. The majority of the new cases — 238 — were people who weren’t vaccinated, including 82 kids under the age of 11. That age group isn’t eligible to get a vaccination.

The new cases were reported in the Saskatoon (72), northwest (60), Regina (29), southeast (28), central-east (26), north-central (25), far northeast (20), far northwest (12), northeast (12), south-central (eight), southwest (five) and central-west (two). The hometowns of 16 new cases were pending.

The total number of cases in Saskatchewan to date stands at 73,350. Recoveries so far total 68,287.

The seven-day average of new COVID cases was 418, or 34.7 per 100,000.

There were 137 COVID patients in Saskatoon hospitals, with 36 of those in ICU. The 82 Regina hospitalizations included 22 ICU cases.

Of the 335 COVID hospitalizations in the province, 251 patients weren’t fully vaccinated.

There were 3,467 doses of COVID vaccine administered in Saskatchewan, with 1,816 of those second doses.

To date, more than 1.6 million shots have been given in the province and 759,582 people have received two doses.