With most schools in Saskatchewan on February break, the province is stressing that to keep it safe, keep your plans within your immediate household. But the Ministry of Health also suggests that for the benefit of physical and mental health, to head out doors where groups of 10 with the appropriate physical distancing are allowed.
As well, anyone who thinks they have symptoms of COVID-19 is urged to get tested 48 hours after the symptoms start to reduce the risk of a false-negative test. This is also due to the increased risk of COVID-19 variants in Canada which have been shown to have a higher transmissibility rate.
Five Saskatchewan residents, who tested positive with COVID-19, have died. That includes a person in their thirties from the Saskatoon zone and an individual in their 50’s from Regina. As well, three seniors in the 80 and over age group have died: one from the North West; one person from Regina and one from the Saskatoon zone.
One hundred seventy eight people are in hospital with 23 of those individuals in intensive care and 1, 541 cases of COVID-19 are considered active. There were 124 new cases of COVID-19 to report on Wednesday.
Vaccine Delivery
There were 271 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered yesterday in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 50,326. With this, 108 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.
The 271 doses were administered in the Far North West (41), Far North Central (19), Far North East (11), North East (155), North Central (35), and Central East (10) zones. The Far North West zone has reported an additional 214 doses administered on February 8, 9, and 12.
There are 877 doses remaining in the Far North zones, which will accommodate second dose schedules. These second doses are expected to be administered by February 25. This week’s 12,870 Pfizer doses are expected to arrive in Regina and Saskatoon on February 17 and Yorkton, Swift Current, and North Battleford on February 18.
Note that we remain in Phase One of vaccine delivery, targeting residents and staff of long-term and personal-care homes, identified health care providers, residents 70 years and older and residents aged 50 and older in remote/Northern Saskatchewan. Eligible populations will be contacted directly to receive their vaccinations. Registration for appointments for Phase Two sequenced populations will be available when Phase Two commences. Please do not contact HealthLine 811 to register for vaccinations at this time. Notification will be provided when the registration system is available.
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
On February 17 the provincial total of COVID-19 cases to date is 26,953.
The new cases are located in the Far North West (16), Far North Central (4), Far North East (5), North West (14), North Central (12), Saskatoon (9), Central West (5), Central East (3), Regina (48), South Central (1) and seven (7) new cases have pending residence information.
There are a total of 25,050 recoveries and 1,541 cases are considered active.
One hundred and seventy-eight (178) people are in hospital. One hundred and fifty-five (155) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (3), Far North Central (1), Far North East (2), North West (15), North Central (15), North East (2), Saskatoon (58), Central West (1), Central East (9), Regina (42), South West (1), South Central (1) and South East (5). Twenty-three people are in intensive care: North Central (2), Saskatoon (12), Central East (1), and Regina (8).
There were 1,800 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on February 16, 2021.
To date, 549,077 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of February 15, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 462,318 tests performed per million population. The national rate was 609,827 tests performed per million population.
The seven-day average of daily new cases is 160 (13.0 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.
Get Tested for COVID-19
While Saskatchewan has been supporting asymptomatic COVID-19 testing throughout the pandemic event, symptomatic residents were advised to get tested 48 hours after symptom onset to reduce the risk of false negative test results.
Recent guidance from the European Centre for Disease Control and the increased risk of variants of concern in Canada has resulted in an update to the policy: if you are symptomatic, get tested for COVID-19 immediately. Asymptomatic testing remains available. High rates of testing allow public health to effectively track transmission in our province; effective self-isolation and contact investigations will prevent additional COVID-19 cases.
If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, even if they are mild, get tested as soon as possible. Anyone who receives a negative test result but continues to experience symptoms should be retested. Getting tested and knowing your status is an important step to protecting yourself and others against COVID-19.
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.
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.
