Sask. COVID-19 Update: 171 New Cases, 148 Recoveries, One Death, Step One of Reopening Plan Takes Effect

Step One of Saskatchewan’s Re-Opening Roadmap

The commencement of Step One of Saskatchewan’s Re-Opening Roadmap is now underway.

Thanks to the rapid expansion and delivery of COVID-19 vaccine and the patient and cautious following of public health measures by the public, the following changes are now being made to public health orders:

• Private gatherings, including household gatherings, may have up to 10 people;
• Public indoor gatherings may have up to 30 people;
• Public outdoor gatherings may have up to 150 people;
• Restaurants and bars may have up to a maximum of six people seated per table;
• VLTs may re-open;
• Places of Worship may have up to 30 per cent of facility capacity or 150 people, whichever is less;
• Outdoor graduation ceremonies may have up to 150 people;
• Competition and game play for outdoor team sports can resume, so long as capacity is in compliance with the public health order for public outdoor gatherings; and
• Group fitness classes involving intense training, like aerobics and spin classes, can resume, with three metres between participants.

As part of Step One, visitor restrictions for residents of long-term and personal care homes are also being eased.  All residents will be able to:

• Welcome an unlimited number of visitors, two at a time, indoors;
• Welcome up to four family members or support persons at a time outdoors; and
• All residents who go on outings will no longer be required to quarantine upon their return.

While the restrictions being lifted are no longer mandatory, many of them are still recommended.  Only increase your contact with others as much as you feel comfortable.  Older persons and those with increased risk factors may wish to wait until two weeks after receiving a second dose before attending gatherings.  Transmission is generally less likely at outdoors than indoors.

If we continue to remain diligent and observe public health measures, we will reach our goal of re-opening our province in the weeks ahead.

Step Two of Saskatchewan’s Re-Opening Roadmap is tentatively scheduled to begin in three weeks on June 20. For more on Saskatchewan’s Re-Opening Roadmap, visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/saskatchewans-re-opening-roadmap.

Vaccines Reported

An additional 11,061 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 717,609.

The 11,061 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered to residents living in the following zones: Far North West, 103; Far North Central, 27; Far North East, 127; North West, 652; North Central, 450; North East, 293; Saskatoon, 3,809; Central West, 563; Central East, 432; Regina, 2,868; South West, 395; South Central, 505; and South East, 572. There were 265 doses administered with zone of residence pending.

Seventy-seven per cent of those over the age of 40 have received their first dose.  Seventy-one per cent of those 30+ have received their first dose.  Sixty-six per cent of those 18+ have received their first dose.

All vaccine administration details for the province, including first and second doses, can be found at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness.

Second Dose Booking Available for those Vaccinated on or before March 15

Second dose vaccinations are open to residents 70+ or anyone who received their first dose before March 15, 2021.  Individuals diagnosed with or being treated for cancer and those who have received solid organ transplants will receive a letter of eligibility in the mail that will allow them priority access to a second dose.

Eligibility to book for second doses is based on age or date of first dose. Residents who meet at least one of these criteria will be eligible for their second dose.  The following table is a tentative guideline for those who received Pfizer or Moderna for their first dose; timelines may change due to vaccine availability:

At this time AstraZeneca is only available for second doses for individuals who received AstraZeneca for their first dose and who are over the age of 85 or cancer patients, solid organ transplant patients, or patients receiving treatment with Rituximab and Ocrelizumab, who received a letter.  These individuals will be contacted for an appointment.

Guidance on the administration of AstraZeneca second doses for the general population will be provided prior to the recommended 12-week interval between doses, which begins the second week of June.

Second dose vaccination appointments can be booked through the Saskatchewan Health Authority online at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19 or by calling 1-833-SaskVax (1-833-727-5829).

A map of participating pharmacies across the province is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-pharmacies.  This online tool includes links to pharmacy booking websites and provides details on the vaccine brand being offered at each location.

For street addresses and hours of operation for drive-thru and walk-in clinics, see www.saskatchewan.ca/drive-thru-vax.

Please do not call until you are eligible to book your vaccination appointment.  If you do not know the date of your first dose or have misplaced the wallet card provided at the time of your first dose, 1-833-SaskVax can provide you with that date, or check your Immunization History on your MySaskHealthRecord account.

There may be clinic options outside your community and residents are encouraged to consider those alternate locations for immunization.  Additional stops should be avoided if possible when travelling to another community for an appointment.  More clinics will be added as new vaccine shipments are received.

During your second-dose appointment, the clinic or pharmacy will validate the timing and brand of your first dose to ensure you are receiving your second dose within the recommended timeframe.  The type of vaccine available at each location will be advertised to ensure that you are receiving the same vaccine brand for your second dose.

At this time, public health is planning to offer your second dose of COVID-19 vaccine to match the brand of your first dose.  National reviews of the safety and efficacy of interchanging the second dose brand are on-going and the provincial policy on maintaining the same brand for the second dose may be updated following this review.

Additional information on how to book your appointment is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine-booking.

Daily COVID-19 Statistics

There are 171 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on May 30, bringing the provincial total to 46,635 cases.

One new death is reported today in the 80+ age group from the South East zone.

The new cases are located in the following zones: Far North West, 7; Far North East, 2; North West, 12; North Central, 17; North East, 3; Saskatoon, 70; Central West, 3; Central East, 6; Regina, 19; South West, 4; South Central, 10; and South East, 17.  One new case is pending residence information. Two cases with pending residence information have been assigned to the Central East zone.

Recoveries total 44,667 and 1,430 cases are considered active.

There are 109 people in hospital, the lowest total in hospital since November 28, 2020. Eighty-four people are receiving inpatient care: North West, 5; North Central, 5; North East, 2; Saskatoon, 35; Central East, 3; Regina, 30; South West, 2; South Central, 1; and South East, 1.  Twenty-five people are in intensive care: North West, 1; North Central, 4; Saskatoon, 11; Central East, 1; and Regina, 8.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 case number is 137 (11.1 per 100,000).  A chart comparing today’s average to data collected over the past few months is available at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness/covid-19/seven-day-average-of-new-covid-cases.

There were 2,241 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on May 29, 2021.

To date, 859,538 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of May 28, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 723,158 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 911,726.

As of May 29, 10,623 variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the following zones: Far North West, 239; Far North East, 41; North West, 595; North Central, 460; North East, 58; Saskatoon, 1,661; Central West, 109; Central East, 590; Regina, 4,626; South West, 367; South Central, 745; and South East, 1,064.  There are 68 screened VOCs with residence pending.

There are no new lineage results reported today. Of the 5,713 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 5,529 are B.1.1.1.7 (UK), 144 are P.1 (Brazilian), 30 are B.1.617 (Indian) and 10 are B.1.351 (SA).

Confirmed variant of concern cases may appear in both columns on the website, depending on testing for that case.  Adding the cases identified by screening and those that have received whole genome sequencing may result in double-counting individual cases.

Further statistics on the total number of cases among health care workers, breakdowns of total cases by source of infection, age, sex and region, total tests to date, per capita testing rate and current numbers of confirmed variants of concern can be found at http://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-cases.

General COVID-19 Information

General public inquiries may be directed to COVID19@health.gov.sk.ca.

Know your risk. Keep yourself and others safe: www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/about-covid-19/know-your-risk.

(Photo credit: Saskatchewan Government/Saskatchewan Government News Release)