There are 110 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on March 15, bringing the provincial total to 30,727 cases. There are no new COVID cases in the Weyburn area and there is one active case, with 34 active cases for the entire southeast region as of March 15.
No additional Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.
The new cases are located in the Far North East (3), Northwest (10), North Central (5), Northeast (8), Saskatoon (11), Central West (2), Central East (10), Regina (53), Southwest (1) and South Central (6) zones. One new case is pending residence information. Three cases were found to be out-of-province residents and removed from the counts.
There are a total of 29,021 recoveries, including 207 new recoveries, and 1,299 cases are considered active. This is the lowest number of active cases since Nov. 9.
There are 137 people in hospital, and 107 people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (2), Far North East (1), Northwest (8), North Central (7), Saskatoon (44), Central East (7), Regina (36), South Central (1) and Southeast (1). Thirty people are in intensive care: Northwest (1), Saskatoon (14), Central East (3) and Regina (12).
Vaccines Reported
An additional 2,009 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 104,424.
The 2,009 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered in the following regions: Northwest (200), North Central (141), Saskatoon (827) and Regina (841).
For a listing of first and second doses in Saskatchewan administered by geographic zone, visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine-update.
COVID-19 Vaccine Bookings for 70+ Province-wide, 50+ in Far North
As of Monday morning, the Saskatchewan Health Authority Patient Booking System expanded COVID-19 vaccine appointment options to include individuals:
• 70 years of age and older in all parts of the province; and,
• residents 50 years of age and older in the Northern Administrative District.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority noted on Monday that since Saskatchewan’s new booking system launched, more than 51,000 individuals in Saskatchewan 70 years of age and older, as well as Northern residents 50+ have been booked for their COVID-19 vaccine. A total of 8,279 of those appointments had been made as of noon Monday; 41,403 or 80.8 per cent of appointments have been booked online; 9,846 or 19.2 per cent of appointments have been booked through the phone line.
Drive-through Vaccination Clinic Open in Regina for Residents 64 Years
Also on Monday, a drive-through immunization clinic opened in Regina to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine to residents 64 years of age.
The drive-through clinic is located on the grounds of the Regina Exhibition Association Ltd. (Lewvan Drive and 11th Avenue) and is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis for the eligible age group. You cannot pre-book an appointment for the drive-through clinic.
It is anticipated that this age range will expand rapidly, and eligible residents are asked to check the website regularly for the latest: https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine/vaccine-booking.
There were 2,013 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on March 14, with 59 tests in the southeast region.
As of March 15, there remain 70 confirmed variants of concern cases in Saskatchewan: 64 B1.1.1.7 (UK) and six B1.351 (SA). There are now 210 presumptive variant of concern cases in addition to the confirmed cases: they are located in the Far North East (1), Saskatoon (4), Central East (5), Regina (185), South Central (10) and Southeast (5) zones. This total includes the 77 presumptive variant of concern cases reported Friday.
To date, 612,606 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of March 13, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan's per capita rate was 515,768 tests performed per million population. The national rate was 680,996 tests performed per million population.
The seven-day average of daily new cases is 132 (10.8 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.
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.
Interrupt COVID-19 Transmission in Regina
With an increase of community transmission of variants of concern in Regina, public health officials are asking all those who live and work in Regina to re-commit to best prevention practices to protect against COVID-19.
At this time, it is recommended that Regina and area residents - particularly those over age 50 - should not consider increasing their household bubbles to include 2-3 households up to 10 people. They should consider remaining with their current household only.
Many of Regina's outbreaks are a result of people of going to work and public places while symptomatic. If you have any symptoms, stay home and arrange for a COVID-19 test at https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/testing-information.
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 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.
