Latest COVID update Oct. 20: 246 new cases, 5 deaths, 3,174 active cases

Five more Saskatchewan residents have died as a result of COVID-19, pushing the total for October over the 100 mark.

As of Wednesday, 103 people have died due to COVID in the province this month. That’s 13 per cent of the province’s total of 798 deaths to date.

Three of the latest fatalities lived in the southeast zone, with one from each of the far northeast and southwest zones. The five people included two each from the 60-to-79 and 80-plus age groups and one between the ages of 20 and 39.

Saskatchewan has reported at least one COVID-related death for 46 straight days.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health also reported 246 new cases and 500 recoveries, dropping the active caseload to 3,174. That’s the lowest that number has been since it was 3,119 on Sept. 5.

The number of COVID hospitalizations in the province dropped by 12 to 323, the fewest since there were 321 on Oct. 3.

A look at the numbers

The new cases were in the Saskatoon (63), northwest (37), Regina (36), north-central (26), southeast (25), central-east (18), central-west (12), southwest (four), far northwest (four), far northeast (four), south-central (two) and northeast (one) zones. There are 14 cases without a confirmed hometown.

The new infections included 184 people who weren’t vaccinated, 53 individuals who were fully vaccinated and nine people who were partially vaccinated.

The unvaccinated group included 76 kids under the age of 11 and 21 children aged 12 to 19.

The latest infections were found in 2,358 tests, producing a test positivity rate of 10.4. The seven-day average of new cases fell to 307.

To date, 75,185 cases have been reported in Saskatchewan and 71,213 cases are considered recovered.

The COVID patients in Saskatchewan hospitals included 241 who are receiving inpatient care and 82 in intensive care.

Two ICU patients have been transferred to Ontario, increasing the total number of transfers to three. Three more patients were expected to be moved to Ontario on Wednesday.

Vaccination update

There were 3,079 doses of COVID vaccines administered, including 1,877 second doses.

To date, 770,792 people have received two doses and are considered fully vaccinated. The provincial total of vaccinations so far is 1,630,649.