A woman washes her hands at a grocery store cleaning station earlier last year. (File photo/paNOW Staff)

By paNOW Staff

COVID continues

169 new cases and 168 recoveries reported in the province

Mar 4, 2021 | 2:13 PM

The province has reported 169 new cases of COVID-19 and 169 recoveries in Saskatchewan bringing the provincial total to 29,220 cases. Meanwhile, clinics are starting in Prince Albert and North Battleford today for the thousands of vaccines that have been recently delivered there.

(Government of Saskatchewan)

Two Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died. One death was reported in the 70-79 age group from the North East zone, and one death was reported in the 50-59 age group from the South East zone.

The new cases in northern Saskatchewan are located in the Far North West (27), Far North East (15), North West (10), and North Central (nine). Six cases are pending residence information, and three cases with pending residence information were assigned to the North Central (one) and Regina (two) zones. Eight cases were found to be out-of-province residents and were removed from the counts.

One hundred and forty-six (146) people are in hospital. One hundred and twenty-six (126) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (three), Far North East (two), North West (11), North Central (14), North East (two), Saskatoon (52), Central West (one), Central East (five), Regina (33), and South East (three). Twenty people are in intensive care: Saskatoon (10), Central East (one) and Regina (nine).

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(Government of Saskatchewan)

There were 2,991 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on March 3.

To date, 585,820 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of March 3, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 491,504 tests performed per million population. The national rate was 649,289 tests performed per million population.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 148 (12.0 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.

NITHA Data

As of March 3, there are 153 active cases of COVID-19 in NITHA communities. These cases are located in the Far North Central, Athabasca (eight), Far North West (30), Far North East (106), North Central (0), and North East (nine). There are 2,994 cases (94 per cent) recovered, and three people are currently in hospital.

The latest COVID-19 data in the northern communities. (NITHA/Facebook)

Vaccines Reported

An additional 2,493 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 84,090.

The 2,493 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered in the following regions: Far North East (11), North East (10), North West (six), North Central (12), Central East (174), South East (188) Saskatoon (951), and Regina (1,141).

(Government of Saskatchewan)

Pfizer vaccine shipments have arrived in Prince Albert (4,680) and North Battleford (2,340) and clinics will begin on March 4.

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

COVID-19 map. (Submitted photo/Saskatchewan Health Authority)

Vaccines accelerate

Dr. Saqib Shahab says people should be ready to learn they are eligible for the vaccine at short notice.

“All the indicators that I’m seeing is that vaccines will be coming through fast and furious starting end of March, April.”

People 50 and older could be eligible as soon as May. Everyone 18 and older is expected to be able to get the jab by June.

Even as vaccination plans accelerate, Dr. Shahab urges people to continue to follow public health measures and use caution even if restrictions are relaxed.

“People have done so well for the past 11 months, 12 months and I think it would be unfortunate if we were to get exposed so close to that finish line.”

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.

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panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow