Deadliest day in province as six more die of virus

Six more Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died, making Tuesday the single deadliest day in the province since the start of the pandemic.

Five of the people who died were in their 80s, with three from Regina, one from the north west and one from the south east zone. The sixth person was in their 30s and from the north central zone.

A total of 66 Saskatchewan people infected with COVID-19 have now died. Nineteen of those have been reported in just the past week as the number of deaths resulting from long-term care outbreaks continues to rise.

There are also 183 new cases, which brings the province to a total of 4,663 active cases. A record-high 279 new recoveries were also reported.

The province's seven-day average of daily new cases sits at 264, or 21.8 new cases per 100,000 population.

Saskatchewan residents can expect to get some clarity on what will be allowed over the Christmas holidays early next week, according to Health Minister Paul Merriman.

The province's current restrictions run until Dec. 17, when they will either be added to, renewed or loosened. Merriman said that announcement will likely come early next week.

“Right now our numbers ... they've plateaued, but they've plateaued at a very high level. We haven't seen the increase that we were projecting about 10 days ago, so the restrictions that we have in place right now seem to be working and holding the line on that,” he said, noting it has not yet been two weeks since the newest restrictions were implemented.

Meanwhile, both Regina's public and Catholic school divisions have announced that they are temporarily moving all students back to remote learning with a return to in-person classes scheduled for Jan. 11.

When asked if he was concerned that bars, nightclubs and casinos can remain open while schools shut down, Merriman said it was “two totally different scenarios” and that the decision by some divisions to move to online learning was made by the school boards.

“The bars and restaurants are working very hard to make sure that they are operating in a safe way and I expect them to continue to do that,” he said.

Merriman and Dr. Saqib Shahab, the province's chief medical health officer, were initially going to present Saskatchewan's Vaccine Delivery Plan on Tuesday afternoon, but due to a power outage at the Legislative Building, that announcement has been postponed until 10 a.m. Wednesday.

There are currently 144 people in hospital, with 27 in intensive care — 11 in Saskatoon, eight in Regina, six in the north central zone and one each in the south west and south central zones.

Sixty-two of the new cases are located in Saskatoon, 25 in Regina and 30 in the north central zones.

The rest of the cases are in the far north west (13), far north east (10), north west (18), north east (five), central west (seven), central east (four), south central (one) and south east (one) zones. Three new cases are still waiting on residence information.

On Monday, 2,359 COVID-19 tests were processed in Saskatchewan.