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COVID-19 Update for April 14: 307,449 Vaccines Administered, 193 New Cases, 222 Recoveries, One New Death

Vaccines Reported

An additional 8,682 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 307,449.  

The 8,682 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered to residents living in the following regions: Far North West (59), Far North East (36), North West (451), North Central (686), North East (105), Saskatoon (1,944), Central West (758), Central East (657), Regina (2,473), South West (366), South Central (517) and South East (369).  There were 261 doses administered with zone of residence pending.

Fifty-five per cent of Saskatchewan residents age 50+ have received their first dose:

All vaccine administration details for the province, including first and second doses, can be found on the dashboard 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.

Vaccination Booking System Now Open to Ages 52+ Province Wide

In an effort to continue to protect residents as quickly as possible, the eligible age for booking vaccination appointments online or by telephone has been lowered to 52.  Online appointments can be made by visiting www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19.  People who do not have a cell phone or email account or need assistance can book by calling 1-833-SaskVax (1-833-727-5829).

Additional information on how to book your appointment is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine-booking.

Regina Drive Thru Vaccination Clinic Open to Ages 48-54

The Regina COVID-19 vaccine drive thru has expanded eligibility to include all residents aged 48-54 years.  This clinic is first come first serve, open 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily at Evraz Place on the Regina Exhibition grounds.

For further information on all drive-thru clinics in the province, including wait times, see https://www.saskhealthauthority.ca/news/service-alerts-emergency-events/Pages/COVID-19-Vaccine-Drive-Thru-Wait-Times.aspx.

Pharmacy Vaccination Pilot Project

Saskatchewan is preparing to offer COVID-19 vaccinations in pharmacies.  In late April, select pharmacies will participate in a small-scale rollout to refine distribution and vaccination processes before larger volumes of vaccine are distributed to more pharmacies province-wide.

Appointments for pharmacy vaccinations are not yet available.  Once participating pharmacies are ready to provide vaccinations, there will be additional information provided by the Ministry of Health and pharmacies will communicate directly with the public.

Daily COVID-19 Statistics

There are 193 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on April 14, bringing the provincial total to 37,085 cases.

There is one (1) new death reported in the 70 to 79 age group in the South East zone.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (5), North West (20), North Central (2), North East (2), Saskatoon (40), Central East (13), Regina (66), South West (8), South Central (9) and South East (17) zones.  Eleven (11) new cases have pending residence information.  Six cases with pending residence information have been assigned to the North West (1), South Central (1) and South East (4) zones.  There are a total of 34,102 recoveries and 2,525 cases are considered active.

Two hundred and three (203) people are in hospital.  One hundred and sixty-two (162) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (1), Far North East (1), North West (2), North Central (9), North East (1), Saskatoon (43), Central East (10), Regina (79), South West (3), South Central (2) and South East (11).  Forty-one (41) people are in intensive care: North Central (1), Saskatoon (8), Central East (2), Regina (27), South West (1) and South Central (2).

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 271 (22.2 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 at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness/covid-19/seven-day-average-of-new-covid-cases.

There were 3,258 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on April 13, 2021.

To date, 713,913 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.   As of April 12, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 598,769 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 769,666 tests performed per million population.

As of April 14, 3,901 variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the Far North West (9), Far North East (2), North West (40), North Central (46), North East (3), Saskatoon (328), Central West (29), Central East (121), Regina (2,532), South West (48), South Central (333) and South East (378) zones.  There are 32 cases with residence pending.

These were previously reported as “presumptive positives,” but all screening tests will be considered confirmed VOCs for the purposes of public reporting and contact investigations.

There were zero (0) new lineage results being reported today.  Of the 1,435 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 1,426 are B.1.1.1.7 (UK) and nine are B.1.351 (SA).  The Regina zone accounts for 1,137 (79 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, per capita testing rate and current numbers of confirmed variants of concern can be found at http://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-cases.

Public Health Measures

Due to increased COVID-19 transmission risk in Saskatchewan, the Chief Medical Health Officer announced amendments to the Public Health Order.

Effective April 13, household bubbles are limited to immediate household members only for all of Saskatchewan.  Persons who live alone and single parents of minor children are permitted to meet with one consistent household of less than five individuals.  Co-parenting arrangements are permitted to continue.  Caregivers, support personnel and tradespersons who are not a member of the household are not included in the maximum number of people allowed in that household.

The new Public Health Order will also include limits on worship gathering sizes to allow no more than 30 people effective 12:01, Friday, April 16.

Full details on current public health measures including the additional measures in effect for Regina and area can be found at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-measures.

These Public Health Order measures are in effect until April 26 and will be reviewed at that time.

Residents are also urged to adhere to best personal protective measures:

  • Wear your mask in all public places including all workplaces
  • Wash non-medical masks daily
  • Maintain physical distancing
  • Wash your hands frequently
  • Reduce activities outside of your home.  Order take-out or curbside pick-up.  If you are able to work from home, work from home at this time.
  • Avoid all unnecessary travel throughout the province at this time

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.

General COVID-19 Information

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

Know your risk.  Keep yourself and others safe.  www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/about-covid-19/know-your-risk.