Latest COVID update Oct. 4: 325 in hospital, 75 in ICUs, 5 more deaths

Saskatchewan has again reached record highs for COVID-19 hospitalizations and intensive care admissions.

According to the Ministry of Health, there were as of Monday 325 COVID patients in the province’s health-care facilities and 75 people in ICUs.

The previous record of 321 hospitalizations was set Sunday. The previous high of 72 ICU cases was recorded Thursday.

The ministry also reported 445 new cases — more than a fifth of them aged 11 and under — along with 523 recoveries and five deaths.

Three people between the ages of 60 and 79 and two people in the 80-and-over age group are the latest fatalities due to COVID in Saskatchewan. Two were from the Regina region, with one from each of the Saskatoon, northwest and northeast regions.

Saskatchewan has reported at least one COVID-related death for 30 straight days. The death toll to date in the province is 716.

A look at the numbers

The new cases reported Monday were in the Saskatoon (116), Regina (90), northwest (39), north-central (35), southeast (33), central-east (29), southwest (26), far northeast (18), northeast (16), far northwest (14), south-central (seven), central-west (six) and far north-central (one) zones.

The hometowns of 15 new cases are unknown.

The total number of cases in Saskatchewan since the pandemic began in March of 2020 is 69,089.

The new cases comprise 334 people who weren’t vaccinated, 90 who were fully vaccinated and 21 who were partially vaccinated.

The unvaccinated group includes 94 people aged 11 and under, none of whom currently are eligible to get a COVID shot. There also were 63 people in their 30s and 47 in their 20s among the unvaccinated cases.

The hospitalizations included 250 people who hadn’t received both of their shots.

The seven-day average of new COVID cases stands at 456, with the active caseload at 4,635.

The 2,500 vaccinations reported included 1,283 first doses and 1,217 second shots. It’s the 17th straight day that first doses equalled or exceeded second doses.

To date, 742,390 people have received two doses and more than 1.57 million doses overall have been administered.