Saskatchewan reports COVID-19 death in 19 and under age group, 41 in ICUs

Saskatchewan has reported its second COVID-19-related death in the 19 and under age group since the pandemic began.

Provincial government officials said the person from the north west zone passed away in February but the death is being reported Tuesday after the completion of an investigation to determine the cause.

Additionally, a recent death was reported in the 70-79 age group and from far north west while another was deemed out-of-province and removed from the count, according to a press release. There have been 499 COVID-19-related deaths in Saskatchewan.

Health officials said on Tuesday there were 189 new cases, with the overall infection total in Saskatchewan now at 42,006. Saskatoon leads the province with 81 new infections.

The seven-day average of new daily infections is down to 226 from 230 on Monday. This is the lowest average reported since April 5 when it was 219.

According to the provincial government, 121 new variants of concern (VOC) cases have been identified in Saskatchewan while the total (7,417) is reported as follows: far north west (141), far north east (2), north west (236), north central (145), north east (28), Saskatoon (867), central west (87), central east (309), Regina (3,983), south west (219), south central (553) and south east (744) zones. The residences of 103 VOC cases are pending.

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The province’s hospitals are currently providing care for 174 patients with COVID-19 — 133 are receiving inpatient care and 41 are in intensive care.

Active cases, which are total cases minus recoveries and deaths, now sit at 2,305 in Saskatchewan, according to the press release. This is the lowest number reported since April 8, when there were 2,141.

The total number of people who have recovered from the virus has grown to 39,202 following 291 more recoveries, provincial health officials said.

According to the press release, 2,515 COVID-19 tests were performed on Monday. To date, 782,870 tests have been carried out in the province.

A total of 460,747 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Saskatchewan, provincial government officials said.

3:00 Saskatchewan premier lays out 3-phase reopening plan

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.