Latest COVID update Dec. 22: 3 death, 181 new cases

The COVID-19-related death toll in Saskatchewan has increased by three.

The daily update from the province includes three deaths; all are in the 80-and-over age range, with two from the Regina region and one from the northwest. In all, 125 people have died after contracting the virus.

The number of new cases reported has dropped to 181, bringing the overall total to 13,942 cases. These newly-diagnosed cases are in the Regina (43), north central (36), Saskatoon (35), northwest (35), far northeast (14), far northwest (eight), central east (three), far north central (two), central west (one), and southwest (one) zones.

With 223 recoveries reported Tuesday, the total number of active cases has fallen to 3,945.

Health Minister Paul Merriman pointed out one important shift: the seven-day average number of cases is now 217, down from 263 a week ago.

“We’re making a difference,” Merriman stressed in an update at the Saskatchewan Legislature. “Our case numbers, while still higher than we would like, are starting to drop. What we’re doing is working, but we have to keep doing it. Household contacts are still one of the main sources of transmission, so we know large gatherings at Christmas would almost certainly result in a large spike in cases.”

Chief Medical Health Officer Saqib Shahab echoed the need for people to avoid gatherings outside of their own household.

Merriman acknowledged that some people will find it difficult not to share the holiday with family, but he insisted it’s for the best.

“I know this is not the Christmas that we all want to be spending together. Each year at Christmas time we all look forward to getting together with family and friends, sharing a meal together or just standing around the kitchen and socialising. Some of us travel long distances to be with our families. These are all things that make Christmas and the holiday season so great. But this year, these are the activities that could make Christmas very dangerous, that could lead us into a huge spike in cases a couple of weeks from now. So we are asking you, stick to your own household for Christmas, connect online with other family members and friends. Visit outdoors if you can and have a quiet Christmas,” he pleaded.

Keeping new cases down is important as hospitals throughout the province continue to treat COVID patients. There remain 124 people in hospital with COVID-19. The majority are in hospital in the Saskatoon (43), Regina (22), north central (17), southeast (six), central east (five), northwest (five), northeast (two), far northwest (two), and central west (one) areas. There are 21 remaining in intensive care in the Saskatoon (eight), north central (seven), Regina (three), southwest (two), and northwest (one) zones.

The province has received testing from other provinces for Saskatchewan residents. That adds two cases to each of the northwest, north central, and Saskatoon regions, with one case in the central east. Eight cases that had not been localized have now been assigned to the Regina (two), far northeast (two), far northwest (one), far north central (one), northwest (one), and Saskatoon (one) regions. Seven cases have also been removed from Saskatchewan’s counts after they were found to be out-of-province residents, reducing the numbers in the northwest by three and the far northwest by one; three others had been awaiting resident locations.

More people have received COVID vaccines as part of the province’s pilot phase of the vaccination roll-out, with 1,519 receiving their first shot. Meanwhile, the number of health-care workers being diagnosed with COVID has inched up to 589.

Merriman confirmed more doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine have arrived in Saskatchewan. Health-care workers in Saskatoon began receiving their first shot Tuesday as part of the first phase of the province-wide vaccine rollout.

There have been 595 cases of COVID brought into Saskatchewan by travelers since March, with 6,695 cases the product of community contact. The source of 3,153 cases is unknown, and public health is still investigating 3,499.

The number of cases in the 19-and-under age range has reached a milestone at 3,006 cases. The 20-to-39 age range has seen 4,939 cases; another 3,591 are in the 40-to-59 range; 1,806 have been reported in 60-to-79-year-olds; and 595 are in the 80-and-over range.

For the first time in nearly a month there has been a demographic shift in the sex of COVID patients. The province now says 50.5 per cent of the cases have been found in women, with 49.5 per cent in men.

The location of cases across the province includes:

• 4,035 cases are from the Saskatoon area
• 3,262 cases are from the north area
• 2,739 cases are from the Regina area
• 1,504 cases are from the south area
• 1,497 cases are from the far north area
• 871 cases are from the central area
• 34 cases have pending residence information