81 new COVID-19 cases in Sask.; 1 death
Saskatchewan recorded 81 new COVID-19 cases Friday, along with one additional death and 98 recoveries.
The person who died was in 80-plus age range and from the Saskatoon zone. There have been 554 COVID-related deaths in Saskatchewan since the beginning of the pandemic.
The new cases are in the Far Northwest (three); Far Northeast (four); Northwest (13); North Central (seven); Northeast (three); Saskatoon (17); Central East (three); Regina (14); Southwest (seven); South Central (seven); and Southeast (two) zones. One case is pending residence information.
There are 104 people in hospital across the province; 17 of those people are in the ICU in the Northwest (one); North Central (four); Saskatoon (six); Central East (one); Regina (four); and Southwest (one) zones.
The seven-day average of new daily cases is 78. There are fewer than one thousand active cases in the province for the third day in a row as the government reported 899 active cases Friday.
VACCINES
The province said there were 15,212 vaccines given Thursday, bringing the provincial total to 860,651.
Healthcare workers have given 682,242 first doses and 178,409 second doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Second doses continue to pick up speed in the province – the number of fully vaccinated residents has increased 282 per cent in the past 30 days.
The province announced an accelerated second dose schedule Friday. Everyone age 12 and older will be eligible to get their second dose by the end of June.
As of Friday, 68 per cent of people age 18 and older have received their first dose, while 66 per cent of residents age 12 and older have their first shot.
VARIANTS OF CONCERN
The government did not report any additional COVID-19 cases as variants of concern. As of Thursday, the government said labs have identified 11,504 cases to be variants of concern.
Labs have confirmed the variant type of 6,199 variant cases through whole genome sequencing. The dominant variant type in Saskatchewan continues to be the Alpha variant – also known as the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the U.K. To date, 5,932 Alpha variant cases have been confirmed across the province.
2ND VACCINE DOSE ELIGIBILITY DROPS TO 55+
Saskatchewan residents 55 years and older are eligible to receive their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine, effective 8 a.m. Thursday.
The expanded eligibility also includes anyone who received their first dose on or before April 7.
Second dose eligibility for residents of the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District remains at 40 years and older.
REGINA DROP IN VACCINE CLINIC FOR STUDENTS, FAMILIES
The SHA is opening a drop-in vaccine clinic geared towards Regina students, their families and caregivers, on Friday.
“Students are out of school for the most part [on Friday], so we thought this would be a great day if parents are home with their kids to be able to come on down and get their vaccines,” Laveena Tratch, the SHA’s Vaccine Section Chief for Regina, said in an interview with CTV Morning Live Regina Thursday.
The clinic, located at the International Trade Centre at Evraz Place, will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.