COVID-19 in Sask.: 502 new cases, 5 deaths reported Saturday
About 1 in 4 new cases were in people 11 and under
The province of Saskatchewan reported 502 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, along with five more deaths from the illness.
There have now been a total of 746 deaths from the illness in the province, and 71,526 cases since the start of the pandemic.
About one in four of Saturday's new cases were in people age 11 and under, according to the province's latest online update. That is the only age group that had more than 100 new cases, and is the only age group still ineligible for COVID-19 vaccination.
Among those age 12 and up, one in five of the new cases were people who were fully vaccinated.
The new cases were located in:
- Far northwest: 22.
- Far northeast: 22.
- Northwest: 63.
- North central: 29.
- Northeast: 14.
- Saskatoon: 124.
- Central west: seven.
- Central east: 38.
- Regina: 81.
- Southwest: 27.
- South Central: nine.
- Southeast: 47.
There are also 19 new cases that haven't been designated a location yet.
Saskatchewan has reported an average of 464 new cases each day for the past week, according to the province's online COVID-19 dashboard. The highest seven-day average recorded so far during the pandemic was on Sept. 20, when the seven-day average was 494 daily new cases.
There are now 4,798 active cases in the province, 106 more than on Friday. The highest recorded number of active cases in the province was 4,864 on Sep. 26.
Hospitals continue to see high numbers of COVID-19 patients in their wards.
On Saturday, there were 332 patients — 11 fewer than Friday — but the number in intensive care rose by seven to 78, matching the highest recorded ICU number.
Saskatchewan has also recorded over 4,800 more COVID-19 tests.
Vaccines in Saskatchewan
The province reported an additional 5,681 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered, bringing the total number to 1,595,712.
That's the highest number of new doses administered since July 29, according to the provincial dashboard.
Of the new doses, 2,964 were first doses and 2,717 were second doses.
Just under 85 per cent of the eligible population in Saskatchewan has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CBC vaccine tracker. Just under 76 per cent have received two doses.
COVID-19 in Canada
Saskatchewan continues to rank among the worst-hit regions in Canada during COVID-19's fourth wave.
With the five new deaths reported on Saturday, Saskatchewan has the highest average rate of deaths in the past seven days.
In the past week, there have been an average of 3.5 deaths per day per 100,000 people in the province, according to the government of Canada's most recent epidemiology report. The national average is 0.7.
There are 398 active cases per 100,000 people in the province, just shy of Alberta's leading 403.