Three new COVID cases in Weyburn, 202 in province

There are 202 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on March 29, bringing the provincial total to 33,233 cases. There are three new COVID cases in the Weyburn area, bringing the number of active cases to 28.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (2), Far North East (6), Northwest (9), North Central (10), Northeast (11), Saskatoon (22), Central West (4), Central East (6), Regina (101), Southwest (1), South Central (10) and Southeast (16) zones. There are four cases with pending residence information.

There are a total of 30,822 recoveries, including 174 new recoveries, and 1,978 cases are considered active. In the southeast region, there are now 146 active cases.

There are 162 people in hospital, and 137 people are receiving inpatient care: Far North East (1), Northwest (6), North Central (9), Northeast (1), Saskatoon (38), Central East (9), Regina (62), Southwest (1), South Central (1) and Southeast (9). Twenty-five people are in intensive care: Northwest (1), North Central (1), Saskatoon (6), Central East (2) and Regina (15).

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 199.3 (16.3 new cases per 100,000). A chart comparing today's average to data collected over the past several months is available on the Government of Saskatchewan website.

Please visit https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness/covid-19/seven-day-average-of-new-covid-cases.

Vaccines Reported

An additional 6,104 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 179,800.

The 6,104 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered in the following regions: Saskatoon (2,270), Central East (583), Regina (1,280) and South Central (1,971).

The appointment booking system is currently available to residents 62 years and older. These residents are encouraged to book their COVID-19 vaccinations and can do so online or by phone. Additional information on how to book your appointment is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine-booking.

The number of Saskatchewan residents in their 80s who have now received their second dose of vaccine has reached the 10,000 mark. More than two-thirds of personal care home (PCH) residents in Saskatchewan have received their second dose of vaccine and are fully vaccinated:

*An individual may be counted in more than one category (e.g. an 85-year-old LTC resident will be counted in the LTC-resident category, the 70+ category and the 80+ category). Effective March 5, Saskatchewan implemented the delayed second dose policy. This does not apply to residents of LTC and PCH and those priority Phase 1 individuals who had scheduled appointments to receive their second dose. All populations receiving vaccinations after March 5 will receive their second dose after all Saskatchewan adults have been offered their first dose. 

For a listing of first and second doses in Saskatchewan administered by geographic zone, visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine-update.

A shipment of 46,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from the United States is expected to arrive in Saskatchewan this week.

Today, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization issued updated guidelines on the use of AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD in Canada, recommending that use for populations under 55 be paused, pending further review of vaccine safety. Saskatchewan will be following this recommendation.

The primary use of AstraZeneca in Saskatchewan to date was at the drive thru clinic in Regina, with more than 15,000 doses available to residents 58 years and older. Some residents younger than 55 would have received AstraZeneca including eligible health care workers and vaccinators though no thrombosis-like adverse events have been reported in Saskatchewan to date.

While there remains fewer than 100 doses of AstraZeneca in the province right now, additional shipments are expected.  The Saskatchewan Health Authority is examining the potential impacts to vaccine roll-out plans now and will have an update in the coming days.

A shipment of Moderna vaccine that was expected for March 30 has been delayed due to ongoing quality assurance processes. PHAC expects this shipment will be available for pick up from the manufacturer on April 1 for distribution in Canada. A delivery date to Saskatchewan is not yet known.

There were 3,067 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on March 28, including 338 tests in the southeast region.

To date, 659,170 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of March 27, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan's per capita rate was 552,686 tests performed per million population. The national rate was 719,541 tests performed per million population.

Please note:Variants of concern (VOC) are beginning to rise across southern Saskatchewan, particularly in the Moose Jaw area.

If you have any symptoms, stay home and arrange for a COVID-19 test.  If anyone in your home has symptoms, the entire household should remain home until the test results are known.

Testing information is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/testing-information.

As of March 28, 1,474 variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the Far North East (1), Saskatoon (17), Central West (2), Central East (25), Regina (1,222), South Central (109) and Southeast (98) zones. 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 is one new lineage result being reported today. Of the 495 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 487 are B1.1.1.7 (UK) and eight are B1.351 (SA). The Regina zone accounts for 410 (or 83 per cent) of the VOC cases with confirmed lineage reported in Saskatchewan. Please note that these VOC may have been initially identified via means other than screening (i.e. selection for whole genome sequencing without screening) and that whole genome sequencing results to identify lineage are included in the screening results.

Confirmed variant of concern cases may appear in both columns on the website, depending on testing for that case. Adding the cases identified by screening and those that have received whole genome sequencing may result in double-counting individual cases.

Further statistics on the total number of cases among healthcare workers, breakdowns of total cases by source of infection, age, sex and region, total tests to date, the per capita testing rate and current numbers of confirmed variants of concern can be found on the Government of Saskatchewan website.  Please visit http://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-cases.

Public Health Measures for Regina and Area

Due to increased COVID-19 transmission risk in Regina and area, the Chief Medical Health Officer has amended the public health order. The new orders announced on March 24 will remain in effect until April 5, 2021 and will be reviewed at that time.

The revisions to the public health order include: limiting non-essential travel to Regina and area; restricting private indoor gatherings to immediate household members only; and working from home when possible. All restaurants and licensed establishments must close for in-person dining; and most event venues are not permitted to operate.

Enforcing Public Health Measures

Enforcement of public health orders is permitted under The Public Health Act, 1994. Public health inspectors will be supported in their efforts to ticket violators quickly to ensure that businesses and events are brought into compliance as quickly as possible, in addition to the enforcement efforts that have been undertaken by police agencies throughout the province.