Four more residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.
Three of the deceased residents were in over the age of 80 and hailed from the North Central, Regina and south east zones. The fourth resident was int heir 70s and from the south central zone.
In addition to the deaths, Saskatchewan announced 329 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Friday and 208 recoveries.
There were 12 new cases reported in the north central 2 subzone, which consists of Prince Albert. The active case count in the city sits at 163.
The seven-day average of new daily cases is 268, or 22.1 per 100,000 population. of the 7,691 total cases, 3,263 are considered active.
There are 111 people in the hospital, including 95 receiving inpatient care and 16 receiving intensive care.
There were 3,687 COVID-19 tests performed Thursday.
The province announced Friday that it is piloting point-of-care rapid testing units that can produce results in 15 minutes in Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw hospitals, as well as at mobile testing locations, to quickly determine the status of an asymptomatic individual. The testing option will help with hospital admissions and discharges to a long-term care facility.
The province is also piloting a rapid antigen test in long-term care, personal care homes and congregate living settings. Results are available in 15 minutes and used for rapid recurrent asymptomatic screening of staff and residents.
All positive rapid tests will be presumed positive and re-tested in a laboratory for now.
