Saskatchewan has added two COVID-19-related deaths for a total of 457 since the pandemic began.
The recently deceased were both reported in the Regina zone with one in their 30s and the other in the 60-69 age group, according to a press release.
Health officials said on Tuesday there were 288 new cases, with the overall infection total in Saskatchewan now at 36,892.
The seven-day average of new daily infections is up from 261 on Monday to 271. The last time the average was reported higher, was on Jan. 24 at 273.
According to the provincial government, 3,813 variants of concern (VOC) cases have been identified in Saskatchewan and were reported in the far north west (8), far north east (2), north west (28), north central (44), north east (3), Saskatoon (302), central west (29), central east (111), Regina (2,505), south west (40), south central (329) and south east (371) zones. The residences of 41 VOC cases are pending.
During a COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday, Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, spoke about case numbers after public health measures were tightened in the province.
“We saw that when the (VOC) came, in Regina, they came very quickly. They became the predominant strain and then that caused an escalation of case numbers very quickly … Saskatoon needs to do everything it can right now to prevent following the trajectory in Regina,” he said.
“So at present, it means additional measures but then at the end of the day, it is up to everyone in any community, including Saskatoon, to really comply fully with those measures and, if required, further measures may be required. But … I don’t think we need to wait for case numbers to rise even further.
“All of those are going to be critical because Saskatoon is at the cusp in terms of it is trending up slowly, but in a concerning direction, both in terms of total case numbers so cases per 100,000 are trending up they are around 15 and test positivity is trending up and the proportion that are (VOC) are trending up.”
The province’s hospitals are currently providing care for 202 patients with COVID-19 — 161 are receiving inpatient care and 41 are in intensive care.
For the sixth day in a row, Saskatchewan’s active COVID-19 cases have increased and now sit at 2,555. This is the highest number reported since Jan. 26, when it was 2,665.
The total number of people who have recovered from the virus has grown to 33,880 following 280 more recoveries, provincial health officials said.
According to the press release, 3,007 COVID-19 tests were performed on Monday. To date, 710,655 tests have been carried out in the province.
A total of 298,767 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Saskatchewan, provincial government officials said.
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.
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