REGINA -- The Government of Saskatchewan reported 249 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths on Saturday.

The two deaths include one person in their 40s from the Central East zone and another in the 80-plus age group from the North West zone.

Due to a data reporting issue, active case and recoveries information is unavailable for Saturday, according to the province. This issue caused updated numbers to be released later than usual.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (three), Far North East (three), North West (14), North Central (10), North East (7), Saskatoon (56), Central West (12), Central East (eight), Regina (73), South West (18), South Central (eight) and South East (29) zones.

Nine cases tested out of province were added to Saskatchewan's total cases. Three previously unreported cases were also added. Another three cases were removed from the total count.

There are 192 people in hospital related to COVID-19 in the province, including 47 people in intensive care. Regina accounts for 31 ICU cases.

The seven-day average for daily new cases is 266, or 21.7 per 100,000 population.

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

As of Saturday, there are 203 newly detected variants of concern (VOC) in Saskatchewan, bringing the provincial total to 4,529.

VOCs have been identified in the Far North West (21), Far North East (three), North West (59), North Central (51), North East (five), Saskatoon (424), Central West (52), Central East (164), Regina (2,792), South West (98), South Central (376) and South East (430) zones.

No new lineage results were reported on Saturday.

TESTING AND VACCINES

There were 3,643 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on Friday.

A total of 10,490 more doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, bringing the province's total to 334,063 doses given.

Vaccines were given in the Far North West (41), Far North Central (two), Far North East (225), North West (1,113), North Central (1,133), North East (86), Saskatoon (2,823), Central West (172), Central East (652), Regina (2,582), South West (334), South Central (655) and South East (382) zones.