REGINA -- Saskatchewan reported 264 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, along with four more deaths and 252 recoveries.

One person who died was in their 40s and in the Regina zone; a second person was in their 60s and from the Far Northeast zone; and a third person was in their 70s and from the South Central zone. The fourth person was in their 60s, however their zone of residence is pending. There have been 491 COVID-related deaths since the start of the pandemic.

The new cases are in the Far Northwest (10), Northwest (24), North Central (15), Northeast (5), Saskatoon (63), Central West (two), Central East (11), Regina (79), Southwest (11), South Central (14), and Southeast (25). Five new cases are pending residence information.

There are 173 people in hospital; 37 people are in the ICU. The 37 people receiving intensive are in Northwest (one), North Central (two), Saskatoon (nine), Central East (two) and Regina (23) zones.

As of Friday, there are 2,426 active cases in the province.

There were 3,916 tests processed on Thursday.

 

VACCINTIONS

There were 5,758 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered on Thursday.

The doses were given in the Far Northwest (225), Far North Central (three), Far Northeast (190), Northwest (851), North Central (651), Northeast (471), Saskatoon (1,576), Central West (148), Central East (193), Regina (581), Southwest (162), South Central (115) and Southeast (417); 175 doses administered with zone of residence pending.

According to the government, 41 per cent of people over the age of 18 have received their first dose.

The province opened eligibility to people age 40 and older on Friday, except in the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District where eligibility expanded to people age 30 and older.

 

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

According to the province, labs identified 222 more variant cases.

As of Friday, 6,764 variants of concern have been identified in Saskatchewan. Of those cases, 2,522 have been confirmed through whole genome sequencing.

There are 2,491 B.1.1.7 cases, which is the variant first identified in the U.K.; nine B.1.351 cases, which was first seen in South Africa; and 22 cases of the P.1 variant first seen in Brazil.

PUBLIC HEALTH FINES

The government said public health inspectors issued a $2,800 fine to a person in Regina who failed to comply with the public health order. No more details were given.