(The Canadian Press)

By paNOW Staff

Vaccines and Public Health

Government announces changes to public health orders including household bubbles

Apr 13, 2021 | 2:30 PM

The Government of Saskatchewan announced more changes to the COVID-19 public health orders, as well as another drop in the vaccine appointment age eligibility.

In an effort to continue to protect residents as quickly as possible, the eligible age for booking vaccination appointments online or by telephone is being lowered from 55 to 52. This change to vaccine ages will take effect at 8 a.m. Wednesday April 14. 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).

There are also several changes being made to the vaccine delivery plan to include more vulnerable groups to priority vaccination including all pregnant woman, young adults ages 16 and 17 who are considered clinically extremely vulnerable and everyone over the age of 40 in the far north.

Pregnant women and vulnerable 16 and 17 year olds will receive an eligibility letter from their physician and will need to use the 1-833-SaskVax telephone number to book.

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

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Public Health Order Change

A change to the Public Health Order will come into effect immediately limiting household bubbles to immediate households only for all of Saskatchewan.

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

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

Vaccines Reported

An additional 7,846 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 298,767.

The 7,846 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered to residents living in the following regions: Far North West (40), Far North Central (one), Far North East (40), North West (137), North Central (311), North East (78), Saskatoon (1,632), Central West (339), Central East (589), Regina (2,742), South West (324), South Central (331) and South East (1,051). There were 231 doses administered with zone of residence pending.

The Government of Saskatchewan announced 7,846 more doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered across the province. This brings the provincial total to 298,767. (Government of Saskatchewan)

Fifty-three 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.

The AstraZeneca Covax shipment (9,800 doses) is expected to arrive in Saskatchewan today.

Regina Drive Thru Vaccination Clinic Open to Ages 49-54 ONLY

The Regina COVID-19 vaccine drive thru has expanded eligibility to include all residents aged 49-54 years only. This clinic will be 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.

The speed of the immunization delivery plan continues to be dependent on vaccine supply.

Daily COVID-19 Statistics

There are 288 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan today, bringing the provincial total to 36,892 cases.

There are two new deaths to report today. Both deaths were reported in the Regina zone from the 30-39 and 60-69 age groups.

The new cases in northern Saskatchewan are located in the Far North West (four), North West (31), North Central (five), and North East (three) zones. Eight new cases have pending residence information. Seven cases with pending residence information have been assigned to the North Central (two), Saskatoon (one), Regina (one), South Central (one) and South East (two) zones. There are a total of 33,880 recoveries and 2,555 cases are considered active.

The provincial government announced 288 new cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan on April 13. (Government of Saskatchewan)

Two hundred and two (202) people are in hospital. One hundred and sixty-one (161) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (two), Far North East (one), North West (two), North Central (eight), North East (one), Saskatoon (47), Central East (10), Regina (80), South West (three) and South East (seven). Forty-one (41) people are in intensive care: North Central (two), Saskatoon (six), Central East (two), Regina (28), South West (one) and South Central (two).

There are 202 COVID-19 related hospitalizations in the province as of April 13, including 41 people in intensive care. (Government of Saskatchewan)

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 271 (22.1 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 3,007 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on April 12.

To date, 710,655 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of April 11, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 596,218 tests performed per million population. The national rate was 766,796 tests performed per million population.

As of April 13, 3,813 variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the Far North West (eight), Far North East (two), North West (28), North Central (44), North East (three), Saskatoon (302), Central West (29), Central East (111), Regina (2,505), South West (40), South Central (329) and South East (371) zones. There are 41 cases with residence pending.

As of April 13, there are 2,555 active cases of COVID-19 across the province. (Submitted photo/Government of Saskatchewan)

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 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 1,131 (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.

NITHA Data

As of April 12, there are 36 active cases of COVID-19 in NITHA communities.

These cases are located in the Far North Central, Athabasca (one), Far North West (14), Far North East (15), North Central (0), and North East (six). There have been 3,366 cases (98 per cent) that have recovered.

As of April 12, there are 34 active cases of COVID-19 in NITHA communities. (NITHA/Facebook)

Regina and Area

Due to increased COVID-19 transmission risk in Regina and area, revisions were made March 24 including: closing all restaurants and licensed establishments for in-person dining; and most event venues supporting 30 persons or less are not permitted to operate. Travel is also not recommended in or out of the Regina area unless absolutely necessary.

Full details on current public health measures 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 in the entire province are 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 to and from Regina, Moose Jaw and Weyburn.

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.

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panews@jpbg.ca

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