Health officials said on Thursday there were 205 new COVID-19 cases, with the overall infection total in Saskatchewan now at 35,376. The seven-day average of new daily infections has been at 226 for three days straight.
The province also added two COVID-19-related deaths for a total of 447 since the pandemic began.
One of the recently deceased was reported in the 80-plus age group from the Saskatoon zone while the other was in their 70s and from south east, according to a press release.
According to the provincial government, 2,948 variants of concern (VOC) cases have been identified in Saskatchewan and were reported in the far north west (2), far north east (4), north west (6), north central (21), Saskatoon (189), central west (12), central east (64), Regina (2,107), south west (18), south central (260) and south east (246) zones. The residences of 19 VOC cases are pending.
On Thursday, the Saskatchewan Health Authority issued an alert saying there is an increased risk of COVID-19 VOC in Lloydminster and area and strongly urged people to strictly adhere to public health orders.
The province’s hospitals are currently providing care for 206 patients with COVID-19 — 165 are receiving inpatient care and 41 are in intensive care.
Active cases, which are total cases minus recoveries and deaths, now sit at 2,141 in Saskatchewan, according to the press release.
The total number of people who have recovered from the virus has grown to 32,788 following 200 more recoveries, provincial health officials said.
According to the press release, 3,151 COVID-19 tests were performed on Wednesday. To date, 693,601 tests have been carried out in the province.
A total of 244,646 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Saskatchewan, provincial government officials said. They added 10,437 doses recently given is the highest administered in a day to date.
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus. In some provinces and municipalities across the country, masks or face coverings are now mandatory in indoor public spaces.
For full COVID-19 coverage, visit the Global News coronavirus web page.