Listen to daily commentary from provincial news director Sarah Mills
Sarah Mills says parents are probably breathing a sigh of relief as kids head back to school after the Easter break.
There have now been 130 deaths in Saskatchewan related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In its daily update, the province confirms that five more people have died after contracting the virus. Three were in the 80-and-over age range, located in the northwest, central east, and Regina zones. Another two deaths were in the 70-to-79 range and occurred in the Regina area as well.
Recoveries outpaced the number of new diagnoses, with 249 people recovering from COVID and 159 new cases reported. There are 3,850 active cases in Saskatchewan with 10,121 people recovered, making for a total of 14,101 since the pandemic began.
The Regina region significantly outpaces other areas in new case growth, reporting 50 new cases. New cases were also seen in the north central (24), northwest (24), Saskatoon (21), far northwest (14), far northeast (eight), northeast (eight), southwest (three), southeast (two) zones. Resident location for four cases has not yet been determined.
There are still 125 people in hospital being treated for COVID, 21 of which are in intensive care units in the Saskatoon (nine), north central (six), Regina (four), northwest (one), and southwest (one) zones. The other 104 cases are located in Saskatoon (43), Regina (23), north central (18), central east (four), southeast (four), northwest (four), northeast (three), far northwest (two), southwest (two), and central west (one) zones.
The seven-day average case number has dropped slightly as well to 215. In a media conference Tuesday, Health Minister Paul Merriman insisted that lower average rate was evidence that measures to keep people at home and limit the spread of the virus were working. Both Merriman and Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab pleaded with residents to continue to abide by the province’s restrictions and avoid gathering with people over the holidays.
More vaccinations are expected to take place in Saskatoon on Wednesday. So far, 1,597 health care workers have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
