Latest COVID update Sept. 23: 460 new cases, 7 deaths, 273 in hospital

The number of COVID-19 patients in Saskatchewan hospitals and ICUs reached record levels again Thursday.

The Ministry of Health said there were 273 people with COVID in the province’s health-care facilities, surpassing the previous record for a fifth straight day.

There also were 58 people in intensive care units, breaking the previous mark of 56 set three days earlier.

Dr. Susan Shaw — the chief medical officer for the Saskatchewan Health Authority — said what we’re facing is controllable and preventable, pointing out people who aren’t vaccinated are six times more likely to get COVID, six times more likely to be hospitalized, and 12 times more likely to have to go into the ICU than someone who is vaccinated.

“New patients are admitted, fighting for their lives, due to a single, preventable diagnosis — severe COVID pneumonia with lung failure,” Shaw said during a media conference Thursday. “We now have enough inpatients from COVID to fill both the Swift Current and Prince Albert hospitals combined, and the numbers of hospitalized patients are growing rapidly.”

Seven more Saskatchewan residents have died due to the virus, increasing the total to date to 658. It’s the 19th straight day the province has recorded at least one death because of COVID; 48 people have died of the virus during that span.

So far in September, 55 people have died due to COVID in Saskatchewan.

Four of the latest fatalities were reported in the 80-and-over age group, with three in the 60-to-79 age range.

Three of the individuals lived in the province’s northwest, with one from each of the north-central, northeast, central-east and south-central regions.

The ministry announced there were 460 cases, including 111 children aged 11 and under. That group currently isn’t eligible for a COVID vaccine.

A look at the numbers

The new infections reported Thursday were in the Saskatoon (123), Regina (59), northwest (53), southeast (47), southwest (38), north-central (36), central-east (28), south-central (18), far northeast (10), far northwest (eight), northeast (eight), central-west (six) and far north-central (five) zones.

The hometowns of 21 cases are being determined.

Of Thursday’s total, 381 were unvaccinated people. In addition to those under 11, there also were 52 people between the ages of 12 and 19 and 50 in the 20-to-29 age group.

There also were 57 cases involving fully vaccinated people and 22 cases among the partially vaccinated.

In total, Saskatchewan has reported 63,875 cases since the pandemic started as well as 58,502 recoveries.

The seven-day average of new cases stands at 470.

The active caseload is 4,715, the second-highest total ever recorded in the province. There are 1,100 active cases in the Saskatoon region.

Vaccination update

Of the 273 patients in Saskatchewan hospitals, 207 were not fully vaccinated.

The province’s plan to force people to show proof of vaccination to gain entry to certain businesses and events starting Oct. 1 may be having an effect.

There were 4,933 doses of COVID vaccine administered in the province in the latest reporting period, the highest such total since Aug. 23.

The latest total included 2,836 first doses and 2,097 second shots. It’s the sixth straight day the number of first shots has equalled or surpassed the total of second shots.

To date, 1,532,204 vaccinations have been done in Saskatchewan, and 723,081 people have received both doses and are considered fully vaccinated.