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COVID-19 Update for February 16: 49,841 Vaccines Delivered, 136 New Cases, 529 Recoveries, Three Deaths

Vaccine Delivery

There were 22 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered yesterday in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 49,841.  With this, 107 per cent of the doses received have been administered to date.  This overage is due to efficiencies in drawing extra doses from vials of vaccine received.

Due to the Family Day stat holiday, there has been delayed reporting for February 15 vaccine administration.  The 22 doses reported to date were administered in the North East zone.  The South East zone has reported an additional 10 doses administered on February 12.

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 136 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on February 16, bringing the provincial total to 26,829 cases.  

Limited data was reported on February 15 due to the statutory holiday.  The below information provides a detailed breakdown of the 136 new cases reported on February 16 and the 143 cases reported on February 15.

Three Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.  One death was reported in the 40-49 age group from the Far North West zone, one death was reported in the 80+ age group from the Far North West zone and one death was reported in the 50-59 age group from the North West zone.

The new cases are reported on February 15th and 16th are located in the Far North West (22), Far North Central (5), Far North East (10), North West (44), North Central (22), North East (17), Saskatoon (69), Central West (9), Central East (9), Regina (62), South Central (4) and South East (2) zones and four (4) new cases have pending residence information.

Six cases with pending residence information were assigned to the Far North West (1) and North West (5) zones.

There are a total of 24,861 recoveries.  On February 15, there were 265 recoveries.  On February 16, 2021 there were 264 recoveries.

One thousand six hundred and eleven (1,611) cases are considered active. 

One hundred and eighty-four (184) people are in hospital.  One hundred and sixty-four (164) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (4), Far North Central (1), Far North East (2), North West (17), North Central (20), North East (1), Saskatoon (60), Central West (1), Central East (11), Regina (41), South West (1), South Central (1) and South East (4).  Twenty people are in intensive care: North Central (1), Saskatoon (10), Central East (1), and Regina (8).

There were 3,691 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan over the past two days. 2,254 on February 14, 2021 and 1,437 on February 15, 2021.

To date, 547,277 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of February 14, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 460,405 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 607,982 tests performed per million population.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 167 (13.6 new cases per 100,000) and is now available on the Government of Saskatchewan website.  This chart compares today’s average to data collected over the past several months.  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.

Public Health Measures Extended to March 19

The current public health order will remain in effect until March 19, 2021.  Public health officials will continue to monitor COVID-19 transmission trends throughout this period.  Detail on the current public health measures is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-measures.

Additional Health Care Workers Added to Phase 1 Priority Sequencing

Following a review of the vaccine delivery plan, the Ministry of Health has added additional health care workers to the priority sequencing previously established for Phase 1 of the vaccine delivery plan.

Additional health care workers included in priority sequencing for Phase 1 include:

  • Individuals directly involved in delivering COVID-19 immunizations in Phase 2 including physicians (up to 2,600), pharmacists (up to 1,200) and other SHA health care providers involved in delivering COVID-19 immunizations;
  • Anesthesia/operating rooms;
  • All other critical care areas;
  • Hemodialysis;
  • Vaccination teams;
  • Radiology technicians;
  • ECG/echo;
  • Phlebotomy/lab workers handling COVID-19 specimens; and
  • Home care (direct care providers).

The amended priority sequencing will add an estimated 11,500 people to the Phase 1 priority population sequencing.

Phase 1 prioritization of individuals and health care workers initially sequenced continues.  Health care workers previously announced in the Phase 1 priority sequencing include: health care workers in emergency departments, intensive care units, COVID-19 wards and COVID testing and assessment staff.  Other individuals initially included in Phase 1 sequencing include: Long-term care and personal care home residents and staff, residents 70 and older in all communities, and residents over the age of 50 living in remote or northern Saskatchewan.

Phase 2 of the vaccine delivery plan remains unchanged and will continue as previously announced.  Phase 2 will focus on the general population in 10 year increments, starting with ages 60 to 69.  Phase 2 will continue to provide targeted access for adults and staff in group homes for persons with intellectual disabilities and shelters, and adults identified as clinically extremely vulnerable.

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.

The week of February 8, Specklebelly’s Brew Pub in Saskatoon was fined $14,000 for failure to abide by public health orders.  While 18 locations were inspected in Regina and Saskatoon on Sunday, February 7, public health did not observe breaches of the public health order that warranted enforcement.

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

Keep It Close to Home this Family Day Week

Keeping COVID-19 transmission low means building best public health practices into all your plans this Family Day week.  Take the opportunity to get outdoors for your physical and mental health, even if it means adding an extra layer of long underwear.

  • Stay safe this Family Day week by keeping your plans within your immediate household.
  • If you are headed outdoors, you may gather in groups of 10 with two metres of physical distancing between household groups.  Food should not be shared between non-household members.
  • Stay close to home.  Non-essential travel is not recommended at this time.  Travel outside our borders means you will be subject to the public health requirements for that jurisdiction, including mandatory quarantine upon return from any international destination.