Saskatchewan health officials reported two new deaths related to COVID-19 on Thursday.

The deaths were in the Regina and South West zones and in the 70 to 79 and 80 plus age groups, respectively.

The number of deaths related to COVID-19 has risen to 460.

On Thursday there were eight cases reported in North Central, which includes Prince Albert.

This was among a total of 293 cases reported in the province. Regina led the province with 87 new cases reported.

North Central 2, which is Prince Albert, has 32 active cases. North Central 1, which includes communities such as Christopher Lake, Candle Lake and Meath Park, has 23 active cases and North Central 3 has nine active cases.

There are currently 188 COVID-19 patients in hospital across the province. Of the 147 reported as receiving in patient care, six are in North Central. Of the 41 people reported as being in intensive care, one is in North Central.

The current seven-day average for new cases is 284, or 22.2 cases per 100,000 population. Of the 37,384 reported COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan, 2,599 are considered active. Another 223 recoveries were reported on Wednesday, bringing the total number of recoveries to 34,325.

Since the start of the pandemic, 8,501 cases are from the North area (3,520 North West, 3,594 North Central and 1,387 North East).

There were 3,573 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on April 12. As of April 13, there have been 717,486 COVID-19 tests performed in Saskatchewan.

There were 7,956 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered in Saskatchewan bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 315,405 .

There were 224 doses administered in the North Central Zone reported on Thursday. Doses were also administered in the adjacent North East, North West, Far North East, Far North West, Central West, Central East, South West, South East, South Central, Regina and Saskatoon.

There were 267 doses administered with zone of residence information pending.

In an effort to continue to protect residents as quickly as possible, the eligible age for booking vaccination appointments online or by telephone will be lowered to 48 years starting at 8:00 a.m. Friday, April 16.

According to the province, 56 per cent of residents age 50 plus have received their first dose.

48 variants of concern identified in North Central

There are now 48 confirmed variants of concern (VOC) cases identified by the province in the North Central zone, which includes Prince Albert, as of April 15.

This was among 4,183 variants of concern identified by screening in Saskatchewan to date. Other regions with identified cases included Regina, Saskatoon, Far North East, Central West, Central East, South West, South Central and South East. There are currently 37 cases with area of residency pending.

There rare now four variants identified in the adjacent North East zone.

Regina led the province with 2,673 identified VOCs.

These have previously been reported as “presumptive positives” but all screening tests will be considered confirmed VOCs for the purposes of public reporting and contact investigations.

There were no new lineage results reported today. Of the 1,435 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 1,426 are B1.1.1.7 (UK) and nine are B1.351 (SA).

The Regina zone accounts for 1,131 (79 per cent) of the VOC cases with confirmed lineage reported in Saskatchewan.

Drive Thru vaccination clinics open to residents 48 to 54 on Friday

As of today, all drive thru and walk-in COVID-19 vaccination clinics will be available to residents 51-54 years. The Prince Albert drive thru opened again Thursday with hours of operation of 9 a.m, to 7 p.m.

Starting Friday, all vaccination drive thru clinics will expand eligibility to residents from 48-54 years.

The Prince Albert drive thru is located at the Thorpe Industries Warehouse, 1 Pine Street, east of the Provincial Forest Fire Control Center- North of Prince Albert on Highway 2. Direction signs are posted.

There will be no public washrooms on site.

Over 2,000 shots were administered when it was open between April 2 and 9.

The Regina COVID-19 vaccine drive thru will be available to residents 46-54 years starting Friday, April 16.

All drive thru clinics are first come first serve.

11 active cases of COVID-19 in youth in North Central

On Thursday the province released the updated numbers on COVID-19 cases in youth. The total active cases in youth provincially in all locations are 661. Nine have no known location and 661 have a location reported.

The province releases the update on the numbers each Thursday.

Currently in the North Central zone, which includes Prince Albert, there are 11 active cases in youth. Last week there were 151 tests performed across the North Central zone.

North Central 2, which is Prince Albert, has five active cases in youth.

North Central 1, which includes communities such as Christopher Lake, Candle Lake and Meath Park, has four active cases and North Central 3 has two active cases.

Cumulative tests performed since Sept. 7, 2020 in the North Central zone is 8,131.

Provincially there is a 13.4 per cent test positivity rate in youth.

There were 4,181 tests performed in total in the province in the last week.

The cumulative number of tests performed since Sept. 7, 2020 is 102,312.

Pharmacy pilot project to begin in late April

On Wednesday the province announced that they are preparing to offer COVID-19 vaccinations in pharmacies. In late April, select pharmacies will participate in a small-scale rollout to refine distribution and vaccination processes before larger volumes of vaccine are distributed to more pharmacies province-wide.

Appointments for pharmacy vaccinations are not yet available. Once participating pharmacies are ready to provide vaccinations, there will be additional information provided by the Ministry of Health and pharmacies will communicate directly with the public.

On Tuesday, the provincial government changed Saskatchewan’s Public Health Orders to limit all household bubbles to immediate households, and cap worship gathering sizes at no more than 30 people.

According to Health Minister Paul Merriman, the decision was made because the level of transmission of COVID-19 remains too high in the province.

“We had hoped to avoid reinstating these restrictions but it is something that we need to do for just a few more weeks until we can get some more people vaccinated,” Merriman said during a press conference on Tuesday.

“Effective immediately all private indoor gatherings are restricted to immediate household members only with limited exceptions for co-parenting arrangements, caregivers and service people. Maximum capacity at places of worship will be reduced to 30 people effective this Friday. Again these new measures will apply to the entire province,”

The household bubble changes are effective immediately. The new worship gathering limits begin on Friday, April 16.

These new measures remain in effect until Monday, April 26 and will be reviewed at that time.

According to Merriman, the numbers have stabilized in Regina and parts of the southeast, even though the high number where cases stabilized is a concern.

“We have to make that decision based on what we have at that moment in time and it’s sometimes easier to look backwards and say well we could have done this or could have done that but we have to make the very calculated decision at that time on what we are doing and at that moment in time we wanted to reinforce Regina,” he said.

Merriman explained that the measures are for the entire province because even though cases are low in some areas, the transmission has been increasing in many areas.

“Until more of us get vaccinated there is still a chance of catching COVID-19,” he added. “I strongly believe we are getting close to having enough public vaccinations that we can begin to relax public health orders and restrictions but we’re not there yet.”
“So thank you to everyone in Saskatchewan for all you are doing, for all of the sacrifices you have made and continue to make. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to get their shot and everyone who is patiently waiting we will get to you as soon as we can. So when it is your turn roll up your sleeve and stick it to COVID.”

Specific public health orders for the City of Regina were also extended until April 26, but otherwise remain unaltered.

Due to increased COVID-19 transmission risk in Regina and area, revisions were made on March 24. These included closing all restaurants and licensed establishments for in-person dining; and most event venues supporting 30 persons or less are not permitted to operate.Travel is also not recommended in or out of the Regina area unless absolutely necessary.

Vaccination is still the driving force of the provinces plans. Merriman said that there have been over 300,000 vaccinations in Saskatchewan and 70,000 were delivered last week.

Merriman described the vaccination program as the largest ever in the province.

“We have now vaccinated more than 80 per cent of everyone 70 and older, more than two thirds of everyone 60 and older and more than half of everyone in Saskatchewan age 50 and older. Our age-based sequencing is working well. We are getting as many people as possible vaccinated quickly as possible and we are protecting those most at risk for serious outcomes,” Merriman added.

“I am so pleased that we have been able to compliment our age based system with a number of priority groups. And yesterday we were able to include frontline workers to those priority groups without compromising the success of our vaccination program,”

The province also announced Tuesday that the eligible age for booking vaccination appointments online or by telephone is also being lowered from 55 to 52. This change will take effect at 8 a.m. on April 14.

There are also several changes being made to the vaccine delivery plan to include more vulnerable groups to priority vaccination including all pregnant woman, young adults ages 16 and 17 who are considered clinically extremely vulnerable and everyone over the age of 40 in the far north.

Pregnant women and vulnerable 16 and 17 year olds will receive an eligibility letter from their physician and will need to use the 1-833-SaskVax telephone number to book.

According to Merriman the province is also looking into a Saskatoon Drive Thru similar to the one in Regina.

Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab explained that people must do all they can to keep numbers low throughout the province to let vaccination catch up. He explained that the overall case numbers per 100,000 are trending up and that statistic is slightly higher in Regina where variants of concern (VOC) have taken hold. Shahab also added that Saskatoon is on the cusp of what happened in Regina with regard to variants.

“We saw that when the variants of concern came in Regina they came very quickly, they became the predominant strain and then that caused an escalation in case numbers very quickly. So Saskatoon is at the cusp because of a few things, one while their overall numbers remain low throughout March while the numbers in Regina were high, the numbers are now trending up and while their variants of concern were as low as 16 per cent last week they are now in that 30 to 40 per cent range. The proportion of the new cases that are variants of concern are trending up,” Shahab said.

“(A) majority of the cases now in Regina and Central and southern parts of Saskatchewan are variants of concern. And of course we are very concerned that Saskatoon also case numbers are trending up, the test positivity is going up…and the proportion that are variants of concern are going up as well. So that’s why Saskatoon really has to work hard to avoid having Regina’s trajectory,” he added.

According to Shahab the two main sites of transmission in the province are household and workplace.

“We do have to stick to our own household indoors and that is what worked for us in December and we really have to go back to that as well as worship services going back to 30 starting on Friday so really back to our measures that we had in December. And then in the north as well case numbers remain not as high as in the south we really have to be very careful because in some cases we are seeing more proportion of variants of concern. And we also have to make sure that testing rates remain high and they are lower in some areas and it’s important that we seek testing when we are symptomatic, we stay home and follow all public health guidance,” Shahab said.

“The second area of transmission continues to be workplaces and that is what it remains critical that we talk to our employers and our coworkers and see what work can be done safely from home for, what work do you have to go to a site, either an office or other site and what are the protocols that we are all using in our workplaces and how we can further enhance them.”

The reproductive rate has returned to over one which means that exponential growth is happening in the province. The reproductive rate dipped in December and came down in February which was the end of the second wave according to Shahab.

“It has come up again above one, primarily driven initially by Regina but now increasingly by the south and the rest of the province as well. Again we need to keep this not just at one but well below one because we all know variants of concern are 60 per cent more transmissible. So one is not enough it has to go at that .6 number again and we really have to work hard to get there,” he explained.

An open letter from 285 concerned Saskatchewan physicians addressed to the premier on Friday called on Scott Moe to tighten the current COVID-19 health orders and make changes to the vaccine rollout to deal with the current state of affairs in the province.

The letter expressed concern with the current situation. The letter noted that variants of concern are rising in the province and hospitals are becoming overwhelmed.

Dr. Lionel Lavoie,a retired physician from Melfort and former Canadian Medical Association president, was one of the signatories and explained that the timing was to remind people that the health aspect was as important to balance in pandemic response as the economic aspect.

“There has been touch and go between opening and closing and opening and closing and I think we are at a stage where the so-called third wave is with us and there are so many variants and that we now have to be very objective and say look the time has come where we need to be steadfast and close the barriers,” Lavoie said.

The physicians state that the current situation is seeing more cases in younger people, service workers and those from lower socio-economic groups.

“I mean we were talking about the old timers and now we are talking about the 20 to 40 age group and that’s becoming very disconcerting,” Lavoie said.

The letter points to recent comments by Moe that vaccinations are key to ending the pandemic but are viewed as the only solution. The doctors explained that vaccinations work, but the current roll out will not get the vaccines to those groups fast enough.

“Our current measures are not enough. Our system cannot cope with these more aggressive, more contagious and more lethal variants. Without further action, both our healthcare system and the economy will be further devastated,” the letter stated.

The physicians then echoed the call from the Canadian Medical Association and asked for a step up in public health measures across the province consistent with those in Regina and what has shown to be effective in other jurisdictions to decrease the number of cases and hospitalizations, immediate economic support for those whose livelihoods are affected and paid sick time for essential service workers.

They also called for an expansion of the provincial roll out strategy to follow National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) guidelines and include all healthcare workers, all essential service workers including teachers and childhood educators and other frontline personnel and those who are at higher risk due to socio-economic factors as well as the medical risk factors already included.

Lavoie pointed to the diversity of the people who signed on the letter.

“If you look on the names of the physicians a lot of them are senior physicians, some retired physicians , some young and upcoming physicians as well. It’s a whole retinue of people,” he said.

Among the signatories was his daughter Dr. Andrea Lavoie of Regina. Physicians from all across the province were represented with communities such as Prince Albert, Melfort, Swift Current, Assiniboia, Rosthern, Lloydminster, Saskatoon and Regina represented.

“I think it pretty well covers the whole province as well, it’s a multi-centred group, some from the city and the smaller communities and so on and so forth. And if you will look a lot of them have been involved with the Saskatchewan Medical Association and the College of Family Physicians of Canada,” Lavoie said.

He explained that it shows how important the current situation is to physicians and being steadfast was a key item. The rise in variants of concern (VOC) in Regina shows that the province should be ready if it occurs in other places.

“It has been open it up and then close it and then open and then close it. I think governments have been reluctant to close. You need to have a group to say ‘now is the time to close the doors or we are going to really be in trouble.’ We see what has been happening in Regina and sure as Dickens it will start happening in Saskatoon too if we don’t shut the barn door,” he said.

Doctor town hall data shows COVID-19 spread ‘uncontained’ in most of the province

The same day the doctors released their open letter, the SHA released data showing that the spread of COVID-19 was accelerating.

Each week physicians from across Saskatchewan meet virtually through town halls to discuss and ask questions about the COVID-19 situation and response.

Slides prepared for Friday’s town hall, and released publicly to SHA’s website, show several concerning statistics, including a rising test positivity rate and growing hospitalization numbers among younger residents.

In a slide titled “assessed risk of epidemic transmission by zone,” all but six of the province’s zones are marked as “high risk” or “high likelihood” that COVID transmission is not controlled. The entire north central, north west and far north east are all labelled as “high risk” that COVID spread is not controlled. Saskatoon, Regina and much of the southern part of the province, where more variants of concern have been detected, are labelled as “high likelihood” that COVID transmission is not controlled. The north east, far north west and far north central are marked as having COVID transmission controlled but seeing a risk of community transmission. Last week, most of the province had COVID transmission controlled.

The slides also show that Saskatchewan has the second-highest rate of variants of concern per 100,000 population, behind only Alberta, and highlight,s in red text that the province is seeing “exponential growth” of new cases and that “severity is increasing,” while testing rates fall in rural Saskatchewan.

The rising caseload, the slides say, “is not only” in the southern portion of the province.

“All have to behave like we are in Regina,” the slides say.

“Vaccination will not fix the problem in the short-term — not enough individuals protected.”

The slides only predict epidemic control if enhanced public health measures and individual precautions are implemented.

‘With the spread of VOC, current public health measures will be insufficient,” the data says, pointing to an exponential curve as the “current situation.”

The majority of spread, accounting for two out of every three cases, is coming at workplaces and communal living environments, the data notes.

It also confirms what had been widely reported but denied by elected officials — that drive-thru sites are not busy and missing their targets.

Cities that were on the very low end or consistently missing targets on most days of operation included North Battleford, Lloydminster, Regina, Saskatoon/Warman, Weyburn, Swift Current, and Kindersley. Prince Albert, Moose Jaw and Yorkton have been, on average, hitting their daily targets, though Prince Albert saw a drop off on April 6 and 7.

Vaccinations may not be enough, though. In Regina, where the variants have hit the hardest, the numbers of people aged 40-59 requiring hospitalization have steadily gone up, data shows, with about half of all ICU cases in that age range. As of Friday, only residents aged 55 and older could receive a vaccine in much of the province, with the lowest age cap set at 50.

“COVID-19 variants of concern are 36 to 70 per cent more transmissible,” the data said, as well as “60 per cent more severe.”

The slides also sought to quell concerns over the AstraZeneca vaccine. The risk of blood clots from the vaccine is incredibly low — just four in one million, about the same as being hit by lightning.

The chances of getting a blood clot are higher from flying on an airplane or from being diagnosed with COVID-19 than they are from the vaccine.

• With files from Peter Lozinski