Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look back at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list ...
The Saskatchewan government is reporting there were 254 new cases of COVID-19, 299 recoveries and one death.
The person who died was in the 50 to 59 age group in the South Central zone. So far, 470 people in Saskatchewan have died due to the virus.
The number of new cases involving variants of concern is 275.
A look at the numbers
The new COVID cases reported Thursday were in the Regina (76), Saskatoon (31), southeast (14), central-east (19), far northwest (14), northwest (18), southwest (14), south-central (17), north-central (12), northeast (seven) and central-west (four) zones. The hometowns of four cases are being determined.
The total number of cases in the province to date stands at 39,137.
The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases was 248, or 20.2 per 100,000 population.
To date, there have been 36,162 recoveries. The active caseload stands at 2,505.
So far, 5,521 cases of variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan. The Regina (3,206), Saskatoon (560), southeast (575) and south-central (432) zones all are reporting more than 400 cases.
Of the 2,060 variant cases in the province with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing, 2,046 are the United Kingdom variants, nine are the South African mutation and five are the Brazilian strain. The Regina zone accounts for 1,474 of the cases.
There are 177 people in Saskatchewan hospitals due to COVID.
The total includes 48 people who are in intensive care, with 34 in the Regina region, eight in the Saskatoon area, three in the central-east zone, and two in the north-central zone.
The 3,706 COVID tests processed in the province on Wednesday increased the total to date to 741,278.
Vaccination update
There were 7,333 doses of COVID-19 vaccine given in Saskatchewan in the latest reporting period, hiking the total so far to 372,334.
The latest doses were administered in the Saskatoon (1,222), Regina (962), northwest (776), northeast (776), southeast (772), central-west (534), north-central (533), central-east (496), south-central (350), southwest (328), far northeast (281), far northwest (240) and far north-central (43) zones.
The hometowns of 258 recipients are unknown.
As of Wednesday, 53 per cent of Saskatchewan residents aged 40 and over have been given a first dose.
Starting this morning, everyone aged 44 and over can book a vaccination appointment. The age limit applies to all of the province’s immunization clinics, including booked appointments, drive-through and walk-in clinics and mobile clinics.
However, appointments are unavailable in Regina and Saskatoon currently.
In the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District, the age of eligibility is 40 and older.
