COVID-19 in Sask.: province records highest daily case number of pandemic

Saskatchewan has once again broken a record in the pandemic.

The province reported 449 new COVID-19 cases on Monday. That is the highest new case count ever in the province, breaking the previous record of 441 set onNov. 20, 2020.

According to a tweet sent out by the province Monday afternoon, of the 449 new cases, 86 per cent are unvaccinated, threeper cent arepartially vaccinated and 11 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Over one-third of the newest cases are 19 years of age or younger.

The province reported four more deaths due to the coronavirus on Monday. There have been a total of625 deaths in Saskatchewan.

The province now has the highest seven-day rolling case average in Canada,with 31.3 new cases per 100,000 people.

Saskatchewan also surpassed 200 COVID-19 patients in hospital on Monday, with 209. Forty-oneof those patients are in ICUs.Now, the health system is under strain, according to the province.

The Government of Saskatchewan is once again taking extraordinary measures to deploy healthcare workers. Late Mondayafternoon the province announced a new emergency order to allow more flexibility in scheduling when it comes to capacity pressures.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority and health sector unions did have a letter of understanding that allowed for labour mobility, but it expired when restrictions were lifted.

A statement from the ministry of health says the order is necessary given "the urgent and immediate needs of the healthcare system."

Meanwhile, there are currently3,776 active cases in Sask. On Monday 414 new recoveries were recorded.

The new cases are located as follows:

• Far northwest: 40.

• Far northeast: 19.

• Northwest: 102.

• North central: 43.

• Northeast: 38.

• Saskatoon: 105.

• Central west: six.

• Central east: nine.

• Regina: 13.

• Southwest: 11.

• South central: nine.

• Southeast: 11.

Forty-three new cases have pending residence information.

There were 655 new first doses and 839 new second doses reported Monday, according to the province's dashboard.