REGINA -- Saskatchewan reported 176 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, along with three deaths and 131 recoveries.
Two people who died were in their 70s, they were from the Regina and North Central zones. The third person was in the 50s from Saskatoon.
The new cases are in the Far Northwest (one), Far North Central (one), Far Northeast (10), Northwest (16), North Central (11), Northeast (eight), Saskatoon (31), Central East (18), Regina (67), Southwest (three), South Central (two) and Southeast (two) zones. Six are pending location information.
There are 129 people in hospital; 27 people are in the ICU.
The seven-day average of new daily cases is 134. There are 1,437 active cases in the province.
77 PRESUMPTIVE COVID-19 VARIANT CASES REPORTED IN REGINA
The Government of Saskatchewan reported an additional 77 presumptive positive variants of concern in Regina on Friday, and warned of increased transmission in the community.
They are presumed to be variant cases, but have not yet been confirmed by genome sequencing.
This is in addition to 70 previously confirmed variant cases in Regina, including 64 B.1.1.7 cases and six B.1.3.5.1 cases.
The province is asking Regina residents to take additional precautions to protect themselves and others.
VACCINATIONS
Vaccine eligibility will be expanded on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. to people 76 and older.
The Vaccine Call Centre operates from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week and can be reached at 1-833-SASK-VAX (1-833-727-5829). People can also schedule their shot 24/7 using the province’s dedicated website. They will need a Saskatchewan health card to make an appointment.
The government also announced the province’s first AstraZeneca clinic would open Monday for 64-year-olds and Phase 1 health care workers.
There were 2,692 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered on Thursday.
The shots were given in the Far North Central (seven), Northwest (365), North Central (815), Saskatoon (490), Central East (237), Regina (461) and Southeast (317) zones.
As of Friday, 56 per cent of long-term care home residents and 45 per cent of personal care residents have been fully vaccinated.
