There are 122 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on Feb. 23, bringing the provincial total to 27,923 cases. There are no new cases in the Weyburn region, and active cases are down to two, with 28 active cases in the southeast as a whole.
Four Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died. Three deaths were reported in the 80+ age group from the Regina (2) and Saskatoon (1) zones and one death in the 70-79 age group from the Regina zone.
The new cases are located in the Far North West (11), Far North Central (5), Far North East (16), Northwest (10), North Central (4), Northeast (2), Saskatoon (25), Central East (7), Regina (37), and Southeast (1) zones and four cases have pending residence information. Nine cases with pending residence information were assigned to the Far North central (1), Far North East (4), Far North West (1) and Northwest (3) zones.
Four Saskatchewan residents tested out of province were added to the Far North West (2), North Central (1) zones and one (1) is pending residence information.
There are a total of 26,017 recoveries, including 244 new recoveries as of Feb. 23, and 1,530 cases are considered active.
There are 174 people in hospital, and 158 people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (8), Far North Central (2), Far North East (2), Northwest (16), North Central (17), Northeast (2), Saskatoon (56), Central West (1), Central East (8), Regina (40), South Central (2) and Southeast (4). Sixteen people are in intensive care: North West (1), North Central (1), Saskatoon (8), and Regina (6).
COVID-19 Variant Cases Update
B1.1.7 UK has been detected in two residents in the Regina zone. These individuals were tested at the end of January. Based on the contact investigation to date, there is no link to travel at this time but public health's investigation is ongoing.
B1.351 SA (South Africa) has been detected in one resident in the North Central zone. This individual was tested at the end of January. Public health's investigation is ongoing.
There is a presumptive case of B1.1.7 UK in one individual in the Saskatoon zone. The individual was transferred from out of province to Saskatoon for acute care. Whole genome sequencing will need to be completed to confirm the results. Public health's contact investigation is on-going.
This brings the provincial total of confirmed variant of concern cases to seven: six B1.1.7 UK including one presumptive case, and one B1.351 SA.
All residents with a confirmed COVID-19 test are required to isolate to reduce the risk of transmission. If required, public health will issue a public service announcement to alert the general public to any risk due to any confirmed case of a variant of concern. The Government of Saskatchewan continues to plan for the impact of variants on COVID-19, including any required increase to public health measures and surge capacity planning.
The best protection against all COVID-19 variants remains the same as protection against COVID-19: stay home, physically distance, wash your hands frequently, wear a mask and get tested if you are experiencing even mild symptoms.
Vaccine Delivery
There were 549 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered on Feb. 22 in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 62,342.
The 549 doses were administered in the Far North Central (11), Saskatoon (196), North East (11), North West (78), Central East (83), and Regina (170) zones. An additional 21 doses were administered in the Central East zone on Feb. 17 and an additional 52 doses were administered in the South Central zone on Feb. 19.
There were 1,872 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on Feb. 22.
Please note that, like most categories of statistics reported, daily testing numbers include those pending by location as noted in the footnotes daily on the Tests By Region page in the dashboard. Total testing numbers will include tests that are still pending by location; those numbers will not appear in the regional statistics until they are assigned.
To date, 563,055 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of Feb. 21, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan's per capita rate was 473,549 tests performed per million population. The national rate was 626,214 tests performed per million population.
The seven-day average of daily new cases is 156 (12.7 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.
Assess Your Risk and Get Tested
The Government of Saskatchewan continues to recommend against all non-essential travel. International travelers 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.
