Sask. adds 130 new COVID-19 cases; 1 more death
The Saskatchewan government recorded 130 new COVID-19 cases and one more death on Wednesday, along with 116 recoveries.
The person who died was in their 70s and from the Northwest zone.
The new cases are located in the Far Northwest (eight); Northwest (13); North Central (eight); Northeast (seven); Saskatoon (46); Central West (one); Central East (two); Regina (22); Southwest (two); South Central (12); and Southeast (seven). Two more cases are pending location information.
There are 103 people in hospital across the province – the lowest number since Nov. 22, 2020, according to the government’s COVID-19 dashboard. Twenty-two of those people are receiving intensive care in the Northwest (one); North Central (three); Saskatoon (10); Central East (one); Regina (six); and South Central (one) zones.
The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases is 131. There are 1,285 active cases in the province.
VARIANTS OF CONCERN
Labs identified 38 more variant cases, according to the government. The province said 10,812 cases have been marked as variants of concern (VoC).
The government reported 81 new lineage results Friday. Of the 5,794 VoCs with a variant type identified by whole genome sequencing, 5,594 are B.1.1.1.7, which was first identified in the U.K.; 159 are P.1, the variant first seen in Brazil; 31 are the B.1.617 variant identified in India; and 10 are B.1.351, first identified in South Africa.
VACCINATIONS
There were 9,299 doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered across Saskatchewan on Tuesday.
So far, 66 per cent of people age 18 and older have received their first dose and 63 per cent of those 12 and over have received their first shot.
The province is expecting a shipment of 74,880 Pfizer doses to arrive today
65+ AGE GROUP ELIGIBLE FOR 2ND DOSES OF COVID-19 VACCINE
Second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are available in Saskatchewan for residents age 65 and older or anyone who received their first dose on or before March 22, as of 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Other individuals who are eligible for their second doses – including anyone diagnosed with or being treated for cancer, or anyone who has received a solid organ transplant – will receive a letter.
Appointments can be made over the phone by calling 1-833-SASKVAX (727-5829), through the province’s online booking portal, or with a participating pharmacy.
SASK. TO MIX AND MATCH COVID-19 VACCINES
The province said it will follow new guidance from Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) on the interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccine second doses.
NACI changed its guidelines to allow for mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday.
Federal health officials announced the updated guidance, saying that a first dose of the AstraZeneca-Oxford/COVISHIELD vaccine can be followed up with a second AstraZeneca shot, or be safely combined with a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna shots "unless contraindicated."
The province said not all vaccine types will be available at all clinic locations. Vaccine types will be listed when immunization clinics are advertised on the government’s website.
PUBLIC HEALTH ORDERS COULD LIFT AS EARLY AS JULY 11
The Saskatchewan government has updated its reopening plan to include a COVID-19 vaccination threshold that would trigger the removal of all remaining public health orders, including the mask mandate and gathering limits.
The government says it will lift public health orders three weeks after 70 per cent of people age 12 and older have received their first dose – and at least three weeks after the beginning of Step Two.
If that threshold is reached by June 20, the province says all restrictions could be lifted by July 11.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
200 bodies found in Mariupol as war rages in Ukraine's east
Workers digging through rubble found 200 bodies in Mariupol, Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday, another grim discovery in the ruined port city that has seen some of the worst suffering of the 3-month-old war.

EXCLUSIVE | Supreme Court Justice Mahmud Jamal on his journey to Canada’s highest court
Justice Mahmud Jamal sat down with CTV National News' Omar Sachedina for an exclusive interview ahead of the one-year anniversary of his appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada. Jamal is the first person of colour to sit on the highest court in the country, bringing it closer to reflecting the diversity of Canada.
Death toll from Saturday's storm hits 10 across Ontario and Quebec
As the death toll related to the powerful storm that swept Ontario and Quebec on Saturday reached 10 on Monday, some of the hardest-hit communities were still working to take stock of the damage.
Trudeau faces chants, pounding drums as he walks through crowd at Kamloops memorial
The prime minister made comments following a memorial gathering in Kamloops to mark one year since the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc Nation announced the remains of up to 215 children were detected at a former school site.
Conservative party ends its investigation into complaint about a racist email
The Conservative Party of Canada says its ended its investigation into a racist email sent to leadership contender Patrick Brown's campaign team after the party member purportedly behind it resigned their membership.
Walk out at trade meeting when Russia spoke 'not one-off,' says trade minister
The United States and four other nations that walked out of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group meeting in Bangkok over the weekend underlined their support Monday for host nation Thailand, saying their protest was aimed solely at Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine.
Canadian study finds link between air pollution and severity of COVID-19 infection
An extensive study of thousands of COVID-19 patients in Ontario hospitals found links between the severity of their infections and the levels of common air pollutants they experience.
After 3 months of war, life in Russia has profoundly changed
Three months after the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, many ordinary Russians are reeling from those blows to their livelihoods and emotions. Moscow's vast shopping malls have turned into eerie expanses of shuttered storefronts once occupied by Western retailers.
China's bet on homegrown mRNA vaccines holds back nation
China is trying to navigate its biggest coronavirus outbreak without a tool it could have adopted many months ago, the kind of vaccines that have proven to offer the best protection against the worst outcomes from COVID-19.