Latest COVID update Feb. 3: 837 new cases, four more deaths

The death toll due to COVID-19 in Saskatchewan has reached quadruple figures.

The Ministry of Health on Thursday reported four more deaths as a result of the virus, pushing the province’s total to date to 1,001.

The latest deaths comprised two people in the 60-to-79 age group and one in each of the 40-to-59 and 80-and-over age ranges. Three of the people who died were from the central-east zone, with the fourth from the far northeast.

The ministry also said there were 837 new cases and 930 recoveries. The active case count fell to 10,271.

The record number of COVID-related hospitalizations climbed by 12, to 384. There were 347 inpatient cases (up 15 from Wednesday’s update) and 37 cases in intensive care (down three from the previous day).

The Saskatoon region once again broke its own record for COVID hospitalizations. There were 201 people with the virus in hospital in the Saskatoon zone, an increase of six from Wednesday.

A look at the numbers

The new cases were reported in the Regina (257), Saskatoon (221), southeast (74), central-east (69), northwest (34), north-central (30), south-central (21), southwest (17), central-west (16), far northeast (eight), northeast (four) and far northwest (three) zones.

The hometowns of 83 cases weren’t immediately known.

Just over 30 per cent of the 852 tests done in the Regina region and reported to public health returned a positive result. The Saskatoon zone, which reported 1,532 tests, had a percentage of 14.4.

The seven-day average of new cases dropped to 958, its lowest level since Jan. 10.

The new cases reported Thursday included 346 people who were fully vaccinated, 321 people who had received a booster shot, 147 individuals who weren’t vaccinated or were less than three weeks from receiving their first shot, and 23 people who had received one dose or were within three weeks of getting their second.

The total number of cases to date in Saskatchewan stood at 120,745. A total of 109,473 cases are considered recovered.

The 347 inpatient hospitalizations included 189 incidental COVID infections, 137 people who went to hospital to be treated for COVID and 21 cases that haven’t been determined.

There were 29 people with COVID-related illnesses in ICUs (including one in a PICU or NICU) and eight incidental COVID infections.

To date, health-care workers and pharmacists have administered more than 1.86 million first or second doses of COVID vaccines to Saskatchewan residents.