Saskatchewan health officials reported three new deaths related to COVID-19 on Sunday.
Two deaths were reported in the 50 to 59 age group from the Regina zone. The other death was reported in the 80 plus age group from the South East zone.
The number of deaths related to COVID-19 has risen to 439.
On Sunday there were three cases reported in North Central, which includes Prince Albert.
This was among a total of 221cases reported in the province on Thursday. Regina led the province with 112 new cases reported.
North Central 2, which is Prince Albert, has 25 active cases. North Central 1, which includes communities such as Christopher Lake, Candle Lake and Meath Park, has 20 active cases and North Central 3 has 26 active cases.
One case with pending residence information has been assigned to the North Central zone.
There are currently 194 COVID-19 patients in hospital across the province. Of the 150 reported as receiving in patient care, there are two in North Central. Of the 44 people reported as being in intensive care, there are two in North Central.
The current seven-day average for new cases is 216, or 17.6 cases per 100,000 population. Of the 34,544 reported COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan, 2,196 are considered active. Another 165 recoveries were reported on Sunday, bringing the total number of recoveries to 31,909.
Since the start of the pandemic, 8,189 cases are from the North area (3,315 North West, 3,526 North Central and 1,348 North East).
There were 3,527 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on April 2.
As of today there have been 681,074 COVID-19 tests performed in Saskatchewan.
Vaccine data in the province was not available Sunday. On Monday the Ministry of Health will launch a new dashboard with details on vaccine administration in the province, including first and second doses administered by age range. In preparation for the launch of the new dashboard, the Ministry is currently updating reporting systems used for vaccination information. Data from Sunday will be available in the new dashboard on Monday.
According to the province 7,200 doses of Moderna vaccine have now arrived in Saskatchewan and have been distributed to the Far North West, Far North East, North East and South East zones. The remaining doses from the March 22 Moderna shipment are expected to arrive in Saskatchewan on Wednesday.
18 variants of concern identified in North Central
There were 18 confirmed variants of concern (VOC) cases identified by the province in the North Central zone, which includes Prince Albert, on April 3.
This was among 2,367 variants of concern identified by screening in Saskatchewan. 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 131 cases with area of residency pending.
Regina led the province with 1,626 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 two new lineage results reported today. Of the 951 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 943 are B1.1.1.7 (UK) and eight are B1.351 (SA).
The Regina zone accounts for 803 (84 per cent) of the VOC cases with confirmed lineage reported in Saskatchewan.
