COVID-19 Update for March 2: 80,236 Vaccines Delivered, 134 New Cases, 194 Recoveries, Two New Deaths

All Long-Term Care Homes have received First Doses

One hundred per cent (100) per cent of long-term care homes across Saskatchewan have now received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine with ninety-one (91) per cent of residents choosing to receive the vaccine.  Fifty-three (53) per cent of facilities have received both their first and second dose.  Nine per cent of long-term care home residents were not immunized due to a variety of circumstances, such as the availability of residents at the time of vaccination, refusal to take the vaccine or a change in health status.

Ninety (90) per cent of personal care homes (PCHs) have now received their first doses.  Forty-three (43) per cent have received both their first and second doses.

This achievement comes less than two months after the first long-term care home resident in Saskatchewan received the COVID-19 vaccine.

“Ensuring seniors living in long-term and personal care homes are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is a priority for the Government of Saskatchewan,” Mental Health and Addictions, Seniors and Rural and Remote Health Minister Everett Hindley said.  “As the supply of vaccine hopefully continues to expand in the coming weeks, we will be able to quickly expand our vaccination efforts for seniors living independently, as well as our other priority groups.  We look forward to the day when all Saskatchewan’s seniors are fully vaccinated against the threat of COVID-19.”

Since the pandemic began a year ago, there have been over 40 outbreaks declared at long-term and personal care homes in Saskatchewan, resulting in over 100 deaths.

Vaccine Delivery

There were 618 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered yesterday in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 80,236.

The 618 doses were administered in the Far North West (27), Far North Central (11), Far North East (11), North West (6), North Central (44), Saskatoon (425), Central East (88) and South East (6) zones.  Data has been updated to include an additional 329 doses administered in the Central East (120) and South East (209) zones on February 26 and 27.

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

Daily COVID-19 Statistics

There are 134 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on March 2, bringing the provincial total to 28,938 cases.

Two Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.  The deaths were reported in the 80+ age group from the North Central (1) and Saskatoon (1) zones.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (22), Far North East (12), North West (12), North Central (5), North East (2), Saskatoon (28), Central East (8), Regina (38), South Central (3) and South East (3) zones.  One (1) case is pending residence information.  Four (4) cases with pending residence information were assigned to the Far North West (1), North West (2) and Saskatoon (1) zones.  Three Saskatchewan residents who tested positive out of province have been added to the North West (2) and North Central (1) zones.

There are a total of 27,059 recoveries and 1,492 cases are considered active.

One hundred and fifty-four (154) people are in hospital.  One hundred and thirty-four (134) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (4), Far North East (2), North West (11), North Central (12), North East (2), Saskatoon (53), Central West (1), Central East (7), Regina (36), South Central (2) and South East (4).  Twenty people are in intensive care: North West (1), Saskatoon (12) and Regina (7).

There were 2,175 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on March 1, 2021.

To date, 580,241 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of February 28, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 488,181 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 645,844 tests performed per million population.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 144 (11.8 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 and the per capita testing rate can be found on the Government of Saskatchewan website.  Please visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/cases-and-risk-of-covid-19-in-saskatchewan.

Assess Your Risk and Get Tested

The Government of Saskatchewan continues to recommend against all non-essential travel.  International travellers must abide by federal testing and quarantine measures.  If you choose to travel inter-provincially, get tested as soon as you return to Saskatchewan and plan for a follow up test seven days later.

The presence of new variants across Canada means an elevated risk of bringing more transmissible strains of COVID-19 home with you.  While you cannot test your way out of travel risks, testing is the best tool available to protect your family, friends and all residents of Saskatchewan against COVID-19 if you have travelled.

You do not need to be experiencing symptoms in order to have COVID-19.  Find testing options near you 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 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.

For more information on the current public health measures or to see the Public Health Order, visit www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-measures.

General COVID-19 Information

General public inquiries may be directed to COVID19@health.gov.sk.ca.

Sekulich, Katherine (Katie)

1925 – 2021

Katie passed away peacefully at her home in Kenaston on February 13, 2021.

Katie was born to Frank and Frances Sarich on their family farm near Hanley. She was the second of eight children. Croatian was Katie’s first language. She learned to speak English in her first year at Crescent View School and learned quickly.

After she left school she worked for a short time in Saskatoon. Katie met John, the love of her life, and they were married in 1952. They resided on the family farm near Kenaston until 1989, when they moved into the village of Kenaston.

Katie was an excellent homemaker and always so hospitable. No one could show up to her home without being fed. Katie was an avid gardener but she had an interest in almost any indoor or outdoor plant. She loved to see how they would grow. She had a huge garden on the farm and even though the garden in town was quite large it was still small by her standards. She was still gardening on her own this past year. She even started growing grapes to make her own wine, which she was proud to share with visitors.

The church was a huge part of her life. She spent many hours cleaning, doing linens and making sure the door was open for numerous functions.

Katie is survived by her husband John of 68 years, children Judy Sekulich (Roger Elliot), Kathy (Don) Matzner, Arthur (Wendy) Sekulich, Pam (Lee) Olfert, 6 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, sisters Margaret (Matt) Tomyn and Nora Sarich, sisters-in-law Agnes Sarich, Marj Sarich and brother-in-law Ray Young.

She was predeceased by her parents Frank and Frances Sarich, brothers Stanley, Henry and Dan Sarich, sister-in-law Jo Sarich and sisters Elizabeth and Diane.

A Family prayer service and mass for Katie was held at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Kenaston SK and Katie was laid to rest in St. Andrew’s Cemetery.

For those so wishing, memorial donations in memory of Katie may be directed to St. Andrew’s Church in Kenaston Sask.

Hanson’s Funeral Home of Davidson in care of arrangements.

COVID-19 Update for March 1: 79,289 Vaccines Delivered, 154 New Cases, 146 Recoveries, No New Deaths

Vaccine Delivery

There were 356 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered yesterday in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 79,289.

The 356 doses were administered in the North West (124) and North Central (262) zones. Data has been updated to include an additional 677 doses administered in the Far North East (22), North West (212), Central East (120) and South East (323) zones on February 25-27.

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

Daily COVID-19 Statistics

There are 154 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on March 1, bringing the provincial total to 28,801 cases.

No additional Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (12), Far North Central (3), Far North East (5), North West (14), North Central (10), North East (2), Saskatoon (33), Central West (1), Central East (14), Regina (53) and South East (2) zones. Five cases are pending residence information. Two cases with pending residence information were assigned to the North Central zone.

There are a total of 26,865 recoveries and 1,551 cases are considered active.

One hundred and fifty-one (151) people are in hospital. One hundred and thirty (130) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (4), Far North East (2), North West (12), North Central (14), North East (1), Saskatoon (49), Central West (1), Central East (7), Regina (33), South Central (3) and South East (4). Twenty-one people are in intensive care: North West (1), Saskatoon (11) and Regina (9).

There were 1,741 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on February 28, 2021.

To date, 578,066 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of February 27, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 486,243 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 642,693 tests performed per million population.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 143 (11.6 new cases per 100,000), the lowest seven-day average since early November.  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 and the per capita testing rate can be found on the Government of Saskatchewan website.  Please visit www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/cases-and-risk-of-covid-19-in-saskatchewan.

Variant of Concern Testing at RRPL

The Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory (RRPL) has completed the validation process in order to support whole genome sequencing.  This test determines that a positive COVID-19 case is a variant of concern, as well as what type of variant.  Starting immediately, the RRPL has the capacity to test up to 192 samples per week.

In order to monitor for variants of concern, the RRPL will continue to focus whole genome sequencing testing on COVID positive results linked to international travel, declared outbreaks and cases of unexpected severe illness, as well as a random sampling of confirmed cases.

The province will continue to send up to 120 samples per week to the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg to ensure a larger sample size.

Assess Your Risk and Get Tested

The Government of Saskatchewan continues to recommend against all non-essential travel.  International travellers must abide by federal testing and quarantine measures.  If you choose to travel inter-provincially, get tested as soon as you return to Saskatchewan and plan for a follow up test seven days later.

The presence of new variants across Canada means an elevated risk of bringing more transmissible strains of COVID-19 home with you.  While you cannot test your way out of travel risks, testing is the best tool available to protect your family, friends and all residents of Saskatchewan against COVID-19 if you have travelled.

You do not need to be experiencing symptoms in order to have COVID-19.  Find testing options near you 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 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.

For more information on the current public health measures or to see the Public Health Order, visit www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-measures.

General COVID-19 Information

General public inquiries may be directed to COVID19@health.gov.sk.ca.