Saskatchewan Identifies 113 New Cases of COVID-19, 17 Recoveries and No Deaths

Vaccines Reported

An additional 13,314 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 1,260,567.  Over half a million Saskatchewan residents are now fully vaccinated.

The additional 13,314 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered to residents living in the following zones: Far North West, 135; Far North Central, 19; Far North East, 139; North West, 1,006; North Central, 1,122; North East, 590; Saskatoon, 3,575; Central West, 477; Central East, 815; Regina, 3,341; South West, 265; South Central, 492; and South East, 914.  There were 424 doses administered with zone of residence pending.

Seventy-one per cent of those 12+ have received their first dose and 51 per cent of those 12+ are fully vaccinated.

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

All Residents 12+ Eligible for COVID-19 First and Second Dose Immunizations

All Saskatchewan residents 12 years and older who have received their first dose of vaccine are now eligible to receive their second dose following a 28-day interval.

Whether seeking your first or 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).  Street addresses and hours of operation for drive-thru and walk-in clinics are available at www.saskatchewan.ca/drive-thru-vax.

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.

Daily COVID-19 Statistics

There are 113 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on July 8, bringing the provincial total to 49,152 cases. Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 Dashboard is here.

The new cases are located in the following zones: Far North West, 2; Far North Central, 3; Far North East, 58; North West, 2; North Central, 2; Saskatoon, 16; Central West, 1; Central East, 2; and Regina, 12.  Fifteen cases are pending residence information.  Five cases were reassigned to the following zones: Far North West, 1; North Central, 1; and North West, 3.

No new deaths were reported today.

Recoveries total 48,167 and 415 cases are considered active.

There are 62 people in hospital. Fifty-one are receiving inpatient care: North West, 4; North Central, 7; Saskatoon, 21; Central West, 1; Central East, 3; Regina, 11; South West, 1; South Central, 1; and South East, 2.  Eleven are in intensive care: North West, 1; North Central, 3; Saskatoon, 4; and Regina, 3.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 case number is 42 (3.5 per 100,000).  A chart comparing today’s average to data collected over the past several months is available at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness/covid-19/seven-day-average-of-new-covid-cases.

There were 2,240 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on July 7, 2021.

To date, 929,868 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of July 6, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 782,833 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 977,464.

Today’s rise in COVID-19 cases is largely attributable to the previously reported outbreak in the Hatchet Lake area.  Some First Nations, including Hatchet Lake, use a rapid testing machine provided by the federal government to support rapid case contact identification.  Positive cases need to then be manually entered into the provincial system.  However, data entry into the provincial system has been delayed while staff work on the immediate outbreak response.  Additional staffing supports have been brought in and staff will be working on entering the COVID tests into the provincial system.

While Hatchet Lake falls under the jurisdiction of the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Agency, the SHA has reached out to offer assistance to the local health teams to support the outbreak response.  Currently, voluntary mass testing is underway as part of active case finding, vaccinations are being offered door-to-door, and local public health officials and community leaders are actively working together on communicating risk, preventative measures and the importance of vaccinations.  The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency has also been engaged and is coordinating with the federal government in potentially securing further resources.

As of July 7, 12,238 Variants of Concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the following zones: Far North West, 328; Far North Central, 4; Far North East, 87; North West, 839; North Central, 634; North East, 80; Saskatoon, 2,127; Central West, 149; Central East, 651; Regina, 4,812; South West, 409; South Central, 889; and South East, 1,148.  There are 81 screened VOCs with residence pending.

There were 72 lineage results reported for Variants of Concern today. Of the 7,587 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 6,879 are Alpha (B.1.1.7), 389 are Gamma (P.1), 309 are Delta (B.1.617.2) and 10 are Beta (B.1.351).

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.

Provincial COVID-19 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.

Limit Transmission of Variants of Concern in your Community – Get Vaccinated

The number of confirmed cases of the Delta variant has increased significantly in the last two weeks.  The Delta variant is assumed to be 1.5 times more transmissible and twice as virulent as the Alpha variant.

Two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are required for optimal protection against the Delta variant.  Residents are strongly encouraged to get their first and second doses as soon as possible.

Getting tested also assists the monitoring of active cases and variants of concern in the province.  Even if experiencing mild symptoms, stay home and seek a COVID-19 test.  COVID-19 testing is available to all residents.  You can receive a referral for COVID-19 testing through HealthLine 811 or a health care provider, and drive-thru testing sites are available without a referral seven days a week in Regina, Saskatoon, Yorkton and Prince Albert.  Information on symptoms to watch for and how to get tested is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-testing.

Saskatchewan’s Re-Opening Roadmap – All Public Health Measures to Be Lifted July 11

With more than 70 per cent of residents over the age of 12 having received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the full implementation of Step 3 of the Re-Opening Roadmap will occur on Sunday, July 11.

That means that as of Sunday, July 11, all public health orders will be removed.  This includes the removal of the province-wide mandatory masking order, and the removal of limits on events and gathering sizes.

For the guidance on Living with COVID-19, including the expectations around masking, information for businesses and workplaces, and the visitation requirements for acute care as well as long term care and personal care homes starting July 11, go to https://www.saskatchewan.ca/living-with-covid.

Enforcing Public Health Measures 

Public health orders are enforced by public health inspectors, the Ministry of Health enforcement team and police agencies.  If compliance cannot be achieved through education, enforcement can include the issuance of tickets or the laying of charges.

On July 6, the Ministry of Health enforcement team issued an individual ticket for $2,800 for failure to comply with a public health order for failure to isolate.  Note that under the Health Information Protection Act, the Ministry of Health cannot disclose the names of individuals who have received fines.

For more information on the current public health measures or to see the Public Health Order, visit www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-measures.

General COVID-19 Information

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

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