Saskatchewan hits highest COVID-19 hospitalizations since mid-June

Saskatchewan had its highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in over two months on Sunday.

The province’s hospitals are currently providing care for 94 patients with COVID-19: 82 are receiving inpatient care and 12 are in intensive care units. This is the most hospitalizations since June 15, when there were 97.

According to the provincial government’s dashboard, there were 219 new cases, bringing the overall infection total in Saskatchewan to 52,472. The seven-day average of new daily infections grew to 166 from 155 on Saturday.

Saskatchewan’s active infections have increased and now sit at 1,556. It is the highest number since May 23, when it was 1,662. The Saskatoon zone leads the province with 352.

The total number of people who have recovered from the virus has grown to 50,330 following 142 more recoveries.

According to the dashboard, 1,975 COVID-19 tests were performed on Saturday. To date, 999,644 tests have been carried out in the province.

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A total of 1,460,986 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Saskatchewan, provincial government officials said. The dashboard showed that 183 of Friday’s 244 new cases were people who were unvaccinated.

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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.