REGINA -- Saskatchewan’s new COVID-19 case count was back above 200 Friday, after the province reported less than 200 new cases for three consecutive days this week.

The government said there are 295 new cases of COVID-19 Friday, along with one death and 237 recoveries.

The person who died was in their 70s and from the Southwest zone.

New cases were confirmed in the Far Northwest (two), Far Northeast (five), Northwest (33), North Central, (17), Northeast (nine), Saskatoon (98), Central West (one), Central East (10), Regina (68), Southwest (nine), South Central (seven) and Southeast (32) zones.

 

There are 174 people in hospitals across the province, 38 of those people are in the ICU. People are receiving intensive care in the North Central (two), Saskatoon (12), Central East (three) Regina (20) and South Central (one) zones.

There are 2,239 active COVID-19 cases in the province. The seven-day average of new daily cases is 221, down from 244 one week ago.

VACCINES

The province said there were 10,530 doses of vaccine administered Thursday. So far, 69 per cent of people age 40 and older have received their first dose.

 

Currently, people age 35 and older are eligible to get the shot. The age will drop to 32 and older on Saturday. Age eligibility in the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District remains at age 18 and older.

The government said all Saskatchewan residents over the age of 12 are expected to be eligible for their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine by May 20.

According the province, next week’s shipment of 31,000 Moderna doses arrived early. These shots are being distributed to vaccination clinics, First Nations and participating pharmacies across the province.

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

The province said labs identified 210 more cases as variants of concern (VoC), bringing the total to 7,905.

The VoC have been identified in the Far Northwest (172), Far Northeast (six), Northwest (262), North Central (190), Northeast (43), Saskatoon (930), Central West (90), Central East (339), Regina (4,119), Southwest (246), South Central (576) and Southeast (817) zones. There are 115 screened VoCs with location pending.

The government reported 27 new lineage results Friday. Of the 3,031 variant cases that have been whole genome sequenced, 2,986 are confirmed to be the B.1.1.1.7 variant first seen in the U.K.; 36 are P.1, which was first identified in Brazil; and nine are B.1.351, the variant first seen in South Africa.