There are 196 new cases of COVID-19 and 250 recoveries to report in Saskatchewan on May 5, bringing the provincial total to 42,203 cases.
Two new deaths are reported today. One death was reported in the 70-79 age group from Saskatoon; one death in the 70-79 age group from Regina.
South East region reported 31 new cases. South East Zone 4 that includes Estevan had a single-day record with 22 new cases. It also saw nine more recoveries, and there are 87 active cases now. South East Zone 1 reported three new cases, and Weyburn’s Zone 3 reported six.
The other new cases are located in the following zones: Far North West, 2; North West, 17; North Central, 12; North East, 5; Saskatoon, 40; Central West, 2; Central East, 16; Regina, 44; South West, 15; and South Central, 8. Four new cases are pending residence information. Two cases with pending residence information have been assigned to the following zones: North West, 1; and South East, 1.
Recoveries total 39,452 and 2,250 cases are considered active.
There are 171 people in hospital. One hundred and thirty-two people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West, 1; Far North East, 1; North West, 7; North Central, 5; North East, 1; Saskatoon, 55; Central East, 4; Regina, 46; South West, 2; South Central, 4; and South East, 6. Thirty-nine people are in intensive care: North Central, 1; Saskatoon, 14; Central East, 2; and Regina, 22.
The seven-day average of new COVID-19 case number is 224 (18.2 new cases per 100,000). A chart comparing today's average to data collected over the past few months is available at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness/covid-19/seven-day-average-of-new-covid-cases.
There were 3,255 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on May 4, 2021.
To date, 786,125 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of May 3, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan's per capita rate was 660,037 tests performed per million population. The national rate was 842,239.
As of May 4, 7,580 variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the following zones: Far North West, 142; Far North East, 2; North West, 246; North Central, 150; North East, 32; Saskatoon, 897; Central West, 87; Central East, 321; Regina, 4,026; South West, 236; South Central, 560; and South East, 770. There are 111 screened VOCs with residence pending.
There are 443 new lineage results reported today. Of the 2,965 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 2,933 are B.1.1.1.7 (UK), 23 are P.1 (Brazilian) and nine are B.1.351 (SA). The Regina zone accounts for 1,875 (63 per cent) of the VOC cases with confirmed lineage reported in Saskatchewan.
Please note that these VOCs may have been initially identified by means other than screening (i.e. selection for whole genome sequencing without screening). 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 health care workers, breakdowns of total cases by source of infection, age, sex and region, total tests to date, per capita testing rate and current numbers of confirmed variants of concern can be found at http://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-cases.
Vaccination update
An additional 9,968 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 470,715.
The 9,968 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered to residents living in the following zones: Far North West, 64; Far North Central, 5; Far North East, 91; North West, 471; North Central, 487; North East, 203; Saskatoon, 3,348; Central West, 268; Central East, 712; Regina, 2,620; South West, 236; South Central, 566; and South East, 566. There were 331 doses administered with zone of residence pending.
Eighty-two per cent of Saskatchewan residents over age 60 have received their first dose. Sixty-six per cent of those 40+ have received their first dose. Forty-five per cent of those 18+ have received their first dose.
All vaccine administration details for the province, including first and second doses, can be found at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness. As the source database for vaccine information, Panorama is subject to continuous data updates which may result in revised counts, day over day.
Be safe and limit your travel
Saskatchewan is a land of living skies and long highways. In a province as big as ours, travel is often required to meet the everyday needs of residents but we also start taking advantage of the warm weather to make get-away plans. At this time, please continue to minimize your travel. If residents are taking trips outside of their community, there are best practices to help reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission:
- Continue to follow the guidance of the current Public Health Orders.
- Manage as many retail or business needs in your home community as possible prior to any other destination.
- If you are travelling to or from a location with increased COVID-19 transmission, consider whether travel can be delayed.
- Where possible, travel in the same vehicle with members of your immediate household only.
- Travel directly from your home community to your destination with no unnecessary stops.
- Once you reach your destination, make as few stops as possible and minimize contact with residents of that community.
- Document date(s) of travel and the location of stops in case you need to refer to it later.
- While medical appointments are considered essential travel, access medical services in your home community only if possible.
