REGINA

Sask. records more than 200 new COVID-19 cases for the 5th day in a row; reports 224 additional variant cases

Janelle Blakley CTVNewsRegina.ca Digital Content Producer

Published Tuesday, April 6, 2021 8:14AM CST Last Updated Tuesday, April 6, 2021 2:27PM CST

A staff member at the Regina drive-through testing station swabs a woman for COVID-19. (Jeremy Simes/CTV Regina)

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REGINA -- Saskatchewan reported 217 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and identified 224 more variant cases, along with three more deaths.

Two deaths were reported in the Regina zone; one person was in their 70s and the second person was above the age of 80. The third death was a person in their 60s from the North Central zone.

The new cases are in the Far Northwest (five), Northwest (11), North Central (three), Northeast (two), Saskatoon (30), Central East (17), Regina (97), Southwest (one), South Central (14) and Southeast (36) zones. One new case is pending residence information.

HOSPITALIZATIONS

The province broke 200 COVID-19 hospitalizations on Tuesday for the second time during the pandemic.

There are 202 people in hospital across the province. Forty-four people are in the ICU in the North Central (four), Saskatoon (six), Central East (two), Regina (30) and South Central (two) zones.

Saskatchewan first had more than 200 COVID-19 patients in hospital in mid-January, at that time hospitalizations peaked at 238 before declining.

VARIANTS OF CONCERN CONTINUE TO RISE

The province identified 224 more variants of concern (VoC) Tuesday.

So far, 2,677 VoC have been identified in the Far Northwest (one), Far Northeast (four) Northwest (four), North Central (18), Saskatoon (163), Central West (12), Central East (52), Regina (1,898), Southwest (11), South Central (232) and Southeast (214) zones. There are 68 cases pending residence information.

Identified variant cases have doubled in the South Central and Southeast zones over the past seven days. On Mar. 30, there were 118 identified VoC cases in the South Central zone and 107 in the Southeast.

The province continues to remind residents that VoC are rising across southern Saskatchewan, particularly around Moose Jaw and Weyburn.

The government has not implemented additional public health restrictions, but has asked people to follow “personal protective measures.”

COVID-19 STATISTICS

There are 2,195 active cases in the province.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 226, up from 201 one week ago.

The province’s usual Tuesday afternoon press conference was postponed to Wednesday because of the provincial budget.