COVID-19 in Sask.: 98 new cases, 2 deaths, vaccine booking for 70+ starting Monday

On Sunday, the Government of Saskatchewan reported 98 new cases of COVID-19 and two deaths in people who tested positive for the virus.

One of the people who died was in the 20-29 age group in the Regina zone and the other was in the 80 and olderage group in the far north west zone.

The deaths bring the total number of people in the province who have died with COVID-19 to 407.

The new cases were reported in far north east (six), north west (three), north central (one), north east (two),Saskatoon (25), central west (two), central east (15),Regina (27), south west (six), south central (four) and south east (six).

One new case is pending residence information.

Five cases with pending residence information were assigned to the North West zone (four) and Regina zone (one).

A total of 1,399 cases are considered active in Saskatchewan as of Sunday and the government reported 166 recoveries.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 130 (10.6 new cases per 100,000), which is down 14 per cent compared to the prior seven days.

As of Sunday, there were 131 people in hospital with COVID-19, with 29 people in intensive care.

More age groups can book vaccination starting Monday

Starting Monday, people aged 70 and older provincewide can book a vaccination and people aged 50 and older in the far north can book a vaccination.

While anyone 70 and older will be able to use the online system or book by telephone, the government says people aged 50-69 years of age in the Northern Administrative District will only be able to book their appointments by phone at this time. The number to call is 1-833-SASKVAX.

On Monday, there will also be a drive-thru vaccination clinic open only to people aged 64 years old in Regina on the grounds of the Regina Exhibition Association Ltd (REAL).

The government says the REAL site will begin to open to additional ages in reverse order from oldest to youngest in days to come.

The government reported that an additional 2,220 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan as of Sunday, bringing the total number of vaccines distributed to 102,415.

Vaccinations were reported in:

• North west: 410.
• North central: 320.
• Central east: six.
• Saskatoon: 924.
• Regina: 560.

Regina residents asked not to increase household bubbles

The government is asking Regina-area residents to consider not increasing their household bubbles because there has been an increase in community transmission of variants of concern.

As of Sunday, the government has confirmed 62 cases of the coronavirus variant first detected in the U.K.in Regina.

Earlier this week, the government announced people may increase their household bubbles to include two to three households of up to 10 people.

But the government is saying people in Regina, especially those over the age of 50, should consider remaining with their current household only.

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