There was one death related to COVID-19 reported in the province on Wednesday.
The death was in the North West zone and in the 80 plus age group.
The number of deaths related to COVID-19 in the province is currently 410.
There were 87 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the province on Wednesday.
The North Central zone, which includes Prince Albert, reported one new case.
Two cases with pending residence information were assigned to the North Central and the adjacent North East zones.
North Central 2, which is Prince Albert, has 24 active cases.
North Central 1, which includes communities such as Christopher Lake, Candle Lake and Meath Park, has 34 active cases and North Central 3 has five active cases.
Five cases with pending residence information were assigned to the North Central.
There are currently 139 people in hospital overall in the province. Of the 108 reported as receiving in patient care there are six in North Central. Of the 31 people reported as being in intensive care there are none in North Central.
The current seven-day average 135, or 11 cases per 100,000 population.
Of the 30,970 reported COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan, 1,264 are considered active.
The recovered number now sits at 29,296 after 114 more recoveries were reported.
The total number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic is 30,970 of those 7,772 cases are from the North area (3,172 North West, 3,382 North Central and 1,218 North East).
There were 4,096 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered yesterday in Saskatchewan bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 112,764.
There were 50 doses administered in the North Central reported. Doses were also administered in the adjacent North East, North West, Far North East, Far North West, Far North Central, Central East, Central West, South West, Saskatoon and Regina.
Regina far outpaced the other regions with 2392 vaccines administered. Of the doses administered March 16, 1,878 were delivered at the Regina drive thru clinic location.
There were 2,597 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on March 16.
As of today there have been 617,664 COVID-19 tests performed in Saskatchewan.
No new confirmed variant cases reported Wednesday
As of today there are no new confirmed variants of concern (VOC) cases to report.
There are currently 135 confirmed variants of concern cases in Saskatchewan with129 B1.1.1.7 (UK) and six B1.351 (SA).
One previously reported B1.1.1.7 (UK) variant case was identified as a duplicate and removed.
The Regina zone accounts for 121, or 90 per cent, of the confirmed VOC cases reported in Saskatchewan.
In addition to the confirmed cases, there are currently 313 presumptive VOC cases reported in the Far North East, Saskatoon, Central East, Regina, South Central and South East zones. Regina is reporting 264 presumptive VOC cases.
Through a partnership with the SHA and CanCOGeN funding of more than $333,000 has been provided for additional equipment and specimen and reagent storage at the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory (RRPL). According to the province this enabled the RRPL to add additional testing capacity for variants of concern (VOC).
Province to move into second phase of vaccination
According to a release from the province because of the successful start to the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) vaccine booking system launched last week the province will be moving into Phase Two (under age 70) sooner than expected.
No further details were provided by the province but should be coming in the days ahead.
Residents over the age of 70 who have not yet made their vaccination appointment are encouraged to book as soon as possible.
“Appointments are still available over the next two weeks, before the end of March. Once eligible, you are always eligible, but we want to ensure those at highest risk get their vaccination while they are prioritized in Phase One.”
Residents 50-69 years of age in the Northern Administrative District can only book their appointments by phone at this time, call 1-833-SASKVAX (1-833-727-5829) between 8 a.m. And 11 p.m.
