One Saskatchewan resident who tested positive for COVID-19 has died. This individual was in the age group 80+ and was reported in the Saskatoon zone.
There are 190 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on Dec. 31, 2020, bringing the provincial total to date to 15,350 cases.
The new cases are located in the Far North West (9), Far North East (22), North West (12), North Central (37), North East (2), Saskatoon (47), Central West (2), Central East (4), Regina (23), South West (3), South Central (8) and South East (10) zones. Eleven (11) new cases have pending residence information.
Fifteen previously reported cases have been assigned to the North West (2) and North Central (13) zones.
As of Dec. 31, there are 54 active COVID-19 cases among inmates and three active cases among staff at the Regina Correctional Centre. This number is expected to increase as testing is underway. Note that all new admissions to provincial correctional facilities are tested and screened for COVID-19 upon admission, and again after 10 days. Offenders are also tested if they are symptomatic, are identified as requiring testing due to contact tracing, or being moved to a reduced custody setting.
Of the 15,350 cases, 2,699 cases are considered active. A total of 12,496 individuals have recovered, including 439 new recoveries as of Dec. 31.
A total of 142 people are in hospital, with 112 people receiving inpatient care: two in the Far North West, seven in the North West; 21 in the North Central; two in the North East; 39 in the Saskatoon; one in the Central West; six in the Central East; 32 in the Regina; one in the South West; and one in the South East zones. Thirty people are in intensive care: three in the North West; five in the North Central; nine in the Saskatoon; one in Central East; 11 in the Regina; and one in the South West zones.
As of Dec. 30, 3,458 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine have been provided to health care workers in Regina as part of the initial pilot and in Saskatoon as part of Phase 1.
Of the 15,350 cases in the province, 632 cases are travelers; 7,559 are community contacts (including mass gatherings); 3,578 have no known exposures; 3,581 are under investigation by local public health, and 723 cases are healthcare workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to healthcare in all instances.
By age category, 3,229 cases involve people 19 years of age and under; 5,497 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 3,933 are in the 40-59 age range; 2,004 are in the 60-79 age range; and 682 are in the 80-plus range. Confirmation of age is pending for five cases.
About 50 per cent of the cases are female and 50 per cent are male. A total of 155 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.
Of 15,350 confirmed cases, 4,311 cases are from the Saskatoon area; 3,727 cases are from the north area (1,401 north west, 1,820 north central, 506 north east); 2,991 cases are from the Regina area; 1,714 cases are from the far north (909 far north west, 106 far north central, 699 far north east); 1,591 cases are from the south (562 southwest, 543 south central, 486 southeast); 933 cases are from the central area (341 central west, 592 central east), and 83 cases have pending residence information.
To date, 426,731 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of Dec. 29, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 256,659 people tested per million population. The national rate was 366,464 people tested per million population.
A total of 2,198 COVID-19 tests were processed in Saskatchewan on Dec. 30.
The seven-day average of daily new cases is 157 (13 new cases per 100,000 population) 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.
Keep New Year’s Eve Safe
While most people are eager to say farewell to 2020, public health officials remind everyone that current public health orders on gathering sizes and events remain in place. Keep your celebrations to your household. Connect with friends and family virtually. Head outdoors to wish your neighbours a happy new year at a safe distance.
Enforcement of public health orders is permitted under The Public Health Act, 1994. Events and gatherings that are not abiding to the current public health order may be subject to fines.
For more information on the current public health measures or to see the Public Health Order, visit www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-measures.
