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The number of patients in Saskatchewan’s intensive care units due to COVID-19 has matched its all-time high.
In a media release Saturday, the Ministry of Health said there were 47 COVID patients in ICUs around the province, equalling the record set April 5.
Saskatchewan also reported 249 new cases, 203 new cases of variants of concern, and two more deaths Saturday.
The ministry said a person in their 40s from the central-east zone and a person in the 80-plus age group from the northwest zone have died. The province’s death toll due to COVID now stands at 464.
The government posted a news release late Saturday afternoon without much of the information usually included in the daily update.
“The total provincial active cases and provincial recoveries plus regional breakdowns are unavailable for Saturday, April 17th, 2021 due to a data reporting issue involving multiple case location reassignments,” the Ministry of Health said in its release.
A look at the numbers
The ICU cases were in reported in the Regina (31), Saskatoon (10), north-central (three), south-central (two) and central-east (one) regions.
On Friday, there were 30 people in Regina’s ICUs and 96 COVID patients in area hospitals overall, a situation the Saskatchewan Health Authority called “unprecedented.”
The new cases reported Saturday increased the provincial total to date to 37,873.
The latest cases were reported in the Regina (73), Saskatoon (56), southeast (29), southwest (18), northwest (14), central-west (12), north-central (10), central-east (eight), south-central (eight), northeast (seven), far northwest (three) and far northeast (three) zones.
The hometowns of eight cases are pending.
The seven-day average of daily new cases was 266, or 21.7 per 100,000 population.
To date, 4,529 cases of variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan. The Regina region (2,792) has recorded the most such cases, with the southeast (430), Saskatoon (424) and south-central (376) zones also reporting more than 350 cases each.
Of the 1,712 cases of variants with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing, 1,703 are the United Kingdom variant — and Regina has reported 1,294 of those.
There were 3,643 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on Friday, increasing the provincial total so far to 724,868.
Vaccination update
There were another 10,490 doses of COVID-19 vaccine given in Saskatchewan, bringing the provincial total so far to 334,063.
The latest shots were given in the Saskatoon (2,823), Regina (2,582), north-central (1,133), northwest (1,113), south-central (655), central-east (652), southeast (382), southwest (334), far northeast (225), central-west (172), northeast (86), far northwest (41) and far north-central (two) zones.
The hometowns of 290 vaccine recipients are pending.
According to the province, 59 per cent of Saskatchewan residents aged 50 and over have received their first doses.
The government also said it had been informed the April 26 shipment of the Moderna vaccine is being reduced by 47 per cent, from 35,800 doses to 18,800 doses.
“The Ministry is working with the Saskatchewan Health Authority and Indigenous Services Canada to determine the potential impact this reduction could have on booked appointments, and the pharmacy vaccination pilot project, and will have an update in the coming days,” the release said.