Province reports 224 new COVID cases, no new deaths

The Saskatchewan Legislature. -- Herald File Photo

Health officials reported 224 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, along with 87 recoveries and no new deaths.

The Regina Zone reported the highest number of new cases with 122, followed by Saskatoon with 28 and the North East with 13.

The North Central Zone reported nine new cases, seven of which were in Prince Albert. Zone 1 and Zone 3 reported one new case each. There are now 43 active cases in Prince Albert, 26 in Zone 1 and 12 in Zone 3.

The three far north regions combined for six new cases, four of which came from the Far North West. The other two were in the Far North East. There are now 30 active cases in the Far North West, 36 in the Far North East, and one in Fr North Central.

Almost all of the 13 new cases in the North East came from North East Zone 1, which includes the City of Nipawin. There are now 60 active cases in that area.

Zone 2 and Zone 3 both reported one new case. They now have six and eight active cases respectively.

Saskatchewan as a whole now has 1,817 active cases. Saturday marked the fourth straight day active case numbers have risen across the province.

Variants of concern (VOC) are starting to rise across southern Saskatchewan, particularly in the Moose Jaw area. As of Friday, health officials have identified 1,240 VOCs through screening, 1,041 of which are in Regina. The Far North East has one VOC. That is the only case in the entire north or far north.

The province also reported 21 new lineage results on Saturday. There are now 494 VOCs that have been identified by whole genome sequencing. All but eight of those VOCs are the B1.1.1.7 variety from the UK. The rest are the B1.351 variety from South Africa.

Healthcare workers administered an additional 4,814 doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Friday. There have now been 167,509 vaccine doses administered across the province.

North Central reported 239 of those vaccine doses. The Far North East reported 11 and Far North Central reported 10. Saskatoon reported the most doses administered with 1,517, followed by Regina with 1,372 and Central East with 1,371.

Booking appointments are currently available to residents ages 62 and older. Appointments can be made online or over the phone.

The government says nearly three-quarters of residents in their 80s and more than a third of residents in their 70s have now received their first vaccine dose.

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