There are 248 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on March 28, bringing the provincial total to 33,031 cases.
Three Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died. One death was reported in the South East region in the 80-plus age group. Two deaths were reported in the Regina zone in the 80+ age group.
A total of 433 people with COVID-19 have died in Saskatchewan, including 36 from the South East region.
Thirty-two new cases were reported in the South East. Seven of those cases are in South East Zone 4, which includes Estevan. There are also three new cases in Zone 3, which includes Weyburn, 15 in Zone 2, which is north of Zone 4, and seven in Zone 1, which is northwest of Zone 4.
There are now 36 active cases in Zone 4, and 141 in the South East.
The other new cases are located in the Far North West (4), Far North East (4), North West (4), North Central (16), North East (4), Saskatoon (24), Central West (1), Central East (10), Regina (130), South West (1) and South Central (17) regions. There is one case with pending residence.
Another 112 people have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 30,648. Seven of the recoveries are from the South East region. A total of 1,950 cases are considered active.
One hundred fifty-five people are in hospital. One hundred and twenty-eight people are receiving inpatient care: Far North East (1), North West (4), North Central (7), North East (1), Saskatoon (36), Central East (10), Regina (59), South West (1), South Central (1) and South East (8). Twenty-seven (27) people are in intensive care: North West (1), Saskatoon (6), Central East (2), Regina (17) and South West (1).
The seven-day average of daily new cases is 200 (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.
There were 3,748 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on March 27, including 338 from the South East region.
To date, 656,103 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of March 26, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan's per capita rate was 549,205 tests performed per million population. The national rate was 716,577 tests performed per million population.
Variants of concern (VOC) are beginning to rise across southern Saskatchewan, particularly in the Moose Jaw area. Moose Jaw residents are urged to follow the same guidelines as outlined for the City of Regina and area.
As of March 27, 1,365 variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the Far North East (1), Saskatoon (17), Central West (1), Central East (25), Regina (1,126), South Central (104) and South East (91) 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 are no new lineage results reported today. Of the 494 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 486 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. One VOC case with identified lineage was removed from the Saskatoon total, as it requires further investigation.
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.
An additional 6,187 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 173,696.
The 6,187 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered in the following regions: Far North East (11), North Central (425), Saskatoon (1,917), Central East (1,113), Regina (1,469) and South Central (1,252) regions.
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.
Three-quarters of Saskatchewan residents in their 80s and more than 40 per cent of residents in their 70s have now received their first dose of vaccine.
