Saskatchewan’s COVID-19-related death toll rose by two to 629 on Wednesday as active case numbers continue to rise.
The recently deceased who tested positive for the virus were in the 60-to-79 and 80-plus age groups.
According to the provincial government’s dashboard, there were 475 new cases, bringing the overall infection total in Saskatchewan to 60,149. This is the second-highest increase to date after more than 500 new infections on Tuesday.
It’s the fourth straight day the province has reported over 400 new cases.
Wednesday’s report said just over one in seven of the new cases — 15.2 per cent — were in people who are fully vaccinated.
People 19 years old or younger accounted for 164 of the new infections, with 104 cases — 21.9 per cent — reported in children under the age of 12 who cannot be vaccinated.
The province reported 152 cases in people between the ages of 20 and 39. Of those, 119 were in unvaccinated people and 16 in partially vaccinated people.
The seven-day average of new daily infections grew to a new record high of 416 from 406 on Tuesday.
The province’s active infections have increased and now sit at 4,016. It is the highest number since Jan. 19, when it was 4,156. The Saskatoon zone leads the province with 997.
Saskatchewan’s hospitals are currently providing care for 224 patients with COVID-19: 184 are receiving inpatient care and 40 are in intensive care units.
The number of recoveries from the virus has grown by 387 to a total of 55,504.
The province said of those people hospitalized, 75.4 per cent — 169 patients — were not fully vaccinated.
According to the dashboard, 4,010 COVID-19 tests were performed on Tuesday. To date, 1,074,354 tests have been carried out in the province.
A total of 1,505,431 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Saskatchewan, the dashboard showed.
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.