COVID claims 3 more lives, vaccine supply dwindles
Saskatchewan reported three new deaths and a two-day total of 538 COVID -19 cases over the weekend.
That included 289 new cases reported Sunday, bringing the provincial total to 38,160 cases.
Of the three deaths, one was reported Sunday in the 50-59 age group for the north central zone, which includes Prince Albert. The other two who died, after testing positive for COVID-19, included one person in their 40s from the central east zone and one over the age of 80 from the north west zone.
Saskatchewan's pandemic death toll now sits at 465.
An additional 11,063 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 345,126.
The vaccines were administered to residents living in the following regions: Saskatoon (3,003), Regina
(2,624), south central (1,270), south east (997), north central (925), central east (766), north west (638), south west (203), north east (170), central west (129), far north west (28), far north central (9).
There were 243 doses administered with zone of residence pending. Nearly half of Saskatchewan residents age 40 and over have received their first dose.
Meantime, the next shipment of Moderna vaccines — expected to arrive on April 26 — has been cut nearly in half according to a news release from the province. Initially Saskatchewan was set to receive 35,800 doses, but that has now been slashed to 18,800 doses.
“The Ministry (of Health) is working with the Saskatchewan Health Authority and Indigenous Services Canada to determine the potential impact this reduction could have on booked appointments, and the pharmacy vaccination pilot project, and will have an update in the coming days,” the release said.
Regina's drive-thru vaccination clinic has already exhausted its vaccine supply, forcing it to close Friday evening. The province said it expects the clinic to remain closed for two weeks.
“Unless there is an unexpected increase in available vaccine supply, the Regina drive-thru clinic is not anticipated to reopen until May 2,” the release said.
The drive-thru clinic in Saskatoon exhausted its vaccine supply Sunday and the SHA announced it would not reopen Monday.
Friday 's vaccine doses were given in the far north west (41), far north central (two), far north east (225), north west (1,113), north central (1,133), north east (86), Saskatoon (2,823), central west (172), central east (652), Regina (2,582), south west (334), south central (655) and south east (382) zones. An extra 290 doses are waiting for residence information.
Vaccine appointment booking remains open to anyone ages 48 and over using the province's online or phone booking system.
Drive-thru and walk-in vaccination clinics are open to anyone ages 48 to 54 only.
45 PEOPLE IN ICU
There are 189 people are in hospital, with 144 people receiving in-patient care: Regina (66), Saskatoon (42), far northwest (1), far north east (1), north west (4), north central (7), north east (1), central east (8), south west (1), south central (6) and south east (7). Of the 45 people in intensive care, most of those are in Regina (30), followed by Saskatoon (10), north central (2), south central (2) and central east (1).
The seven-day average of new COVID -19 case number is 261 (21.3 new cases per 100,000). There were 3,623 COVID-19 tests processed Saturday. To date, 728,491 tests have been processed.
Of the new cases, reported Sunday, Regina once again leads the way with 106 followed by the south east (41) and Saskatoon (32). Others are located in the far north west (9), far north east (2), north west (21), north central (12), north east (2), central west (7), central east (26), south west (6) and south central (15) zones.
There are 10 new cases with pending residence information. As well, one case was reassigned to the south east. Five cases were found to be out-of-province residents and were removed from the central west (1), central east (1) and Saskatoon (2) zones, and one other case with pending residence information. Two cases not previously reported were added to the Saskatoon zone and one to pending residence information.
New cases reported Saturday were in the far north west (three), far north east (three), north west (14), north central (10), north east (seven), Saskatoon (56), central west (12), central east (eight), Regina (73), south west (18), south central (eight) and south east (29) zones. Nine cases that were tested out of province have been added to the total case count, and another eight cases are waiting for residence information.
More than 300 new variants of concern (VOC) were also confirmed over the weekend, with the province's major cities and southern regions seeing the greatest increases. Regina added 126 more VOCS, Saskatoon picked up 56 and the southeast added 54. The southwest saw 33 more and the south central zone added 30.