Province reports 39 new COVID-19 cases in North Central

(File photo/Jayda Taylor)

Saskatchewan health officials reported 39 new cases of COVID-19 in North Central on Tuesday. This was among 305 total cases in the province.

There was also a death related to COVID-19 in Saskatoon for the second consecutive day. This was the lone death in the province. The age group for the death was not available.

The number of deaths related to COVID-19 in the province is now 613.

Saskatoon led the province with 84 new cases.

Of the 56,838 reported COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan, 3,184 are considered active.

North Central 2, which is Prince Albert, has 231 active cases. North Central 1, which includes communities such as Christopher Lake, Candle Lake and Meath Park, has 207 active cases and North Central 3 has 61 active cases.

One case with pending location was added to North Central on Tuesday.

According to the province, 38.4 per cent of new cases are in patients in their 20s and 30s and about 13.1 per cent of new cases were fully vaccinated.

There are currently 145 COVID-19 patients in hospital across the province, 103 of which are not fully vaccinated, with 118 receiving inpatient care and 27 in the ICU. North Central has 28 patients in hospital.

The current seven-day average for new cases is 350, or 29.1 cases per 100,000 population. This is the highest ever average for new cases recorded for the second consecutive day.

Another 260 recoveries were reported on Tuesday, bringing the total number of recoveries to 53,041.

Since the start of the pandemic, 13,086 cases were from the North area (5,496 North West, 5,578 North Central and 2,012 North East). The case numbers in the North area are now the second most recorded in the pandemic moving ahead of Regina and still behind Saskatoon.

There were 2,185 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on Tuesday. As of Sept. 7, there have been 1,045,902 COVID-19 tests performed in Saskatchewan.

There were 294 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered in Saskatchewan bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 1,490,413.

There were four doses administered in the North Central Zone reported on Sunday. 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.

According to the province 46,578 people in North Central are fully vaccinated.

According to the weekly update from the province nearly 84 per cent of all new cases and hospitalizations in Saskatchewan in August were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people.  While serious COVID-19 outcomes continue to be higher for unvaccinated populations, the risk of breakthrough infections rises with increases in transmission.

All Saskatchewan residents who are eligible for immunization need to receive both doses as soon as they are able.

As well, Moderna has been approved by Health Canada for youth ages 12-17 years. Like Pfizer, Saskatchewan residents will see Moderna offered to youth turning 12 years of age by December 31, 2021 and older, as part of the COVID-19 vaccination program.

668 total variants of concern identified in North Central

There are 668 confirmed variants of concern (VOC) cases identified by the province in the North Central zone as of Sept. 7.

This was among 12,460 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 77 cases with area of residency pending.

There are 87 variants identified in the adjacent North East zone.

Regina led the province with 4,835 identified VOCs.

Of the 10,189 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 7,123 are Alpha (B.1.1.7), 10 are Beta (B.1.351), 474 are Gamma (P.1) and 2,582 are Delta (B.1.617.2).

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