The novel coronavirus. (Canadian Press)

By paNOW Staff

Latest on COVID-19 in the province

Province records two deaths, 238 new COVID cases, 132 people in hospital

Dec 2, 2020 | 2:26 PM

The province is reporting another two deaths related to COVID-19 in what is the deadliest week of the pandemic in Saskatchewan’s history.

The residents who died after tested positive for the virus resided in the North and Regina zones. The individual from the North zone was in their 80s while the individual from the Regina zone was in the 60-79 age category. There have been 14 deaths to COVID-19 since last Wednesday, and 51 in total.

There are 238 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on Wednesday, bringing the provincial total to date to 8,982 cases.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (six), Far North Central (three), Far North East (16), North West (17), North Central (25), North East (three), Saskatoon (109), Central East (four), Regina (36), South West (eight), South Central (one) and South East (three) zones and seven new cases have pending residence information.

Five cases with pending residence information were assigned to the Far North East (one), North Central (one), Regina (two) and South East (one) zones. One case previously assigned to the Saskatoon zone was removed from the counts.

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The seven-day average of daily new cases is 274 (22.6 new cases per 100,000 population).

Of the 8,982 reported cases, 3,970 are considered active. A total of 4,959 people have recovered.

One-hundred and thirty-two people are in hospital. One-hundred and six people are receiving inpatient care: one in the Far North West, seven in the North West, seven in the North Central, one in the North East, 42 in the Saskatoon, two in the Central East, 23 in the Regina, two in the South West, one in the South Central and 20 in the South East zones. Twenty-six people are in intensive care: five in the North Central, 12 in the Saskatoon, and nine in the Regina zones.

Vaccine roll out

Saskatchewan health minister Paul Merriman says the province is prepared to deliver vaccines, once the federal government provides the vaccines.

“As soon as the federal government is able to start delivering the vaccine to us, we will be ready to deliver that to Saskatchewan people, quickly and safely,” Merriman said.

More detailed information on the vaccine’s rollout is expected to come next week.

During the holidays

COVID-19 restrictions could put a wrench into Christmas and holiday plans as Saskatchewan residents cannot have gatherings in their home with more than five people outside of their household.

With the holiday breaks just around the corner, Saskatchewan Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said he isn’t ready to loosen restrictions just yet.

“Can we get together even as one or two households? It’s too early to say,” Shahab said. “But I think we need to be very cautious because if relax during the holidays while the case numbers are high, we’ll pay the price in January.”

The latest COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan as of Dec. 2. (submitted photo/SHA)

Of the 8,982 cases in the province:

• 480 cases are travelers;
• 3,812 are community contacts (including mass gatherings);
• 2,144 have no known exposures; and
• 2,546 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall in Saskatchewan to date:

• 268 cases are healthcare workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to healthcare in all instances.
• 1,862 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
• 3,191 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 2,406 are in the 40-59 age range; 1,184 are in the 60-79 age range; and 334 are in the 80-plus range. Confirmation of age is pending for five cases.
• 50 per cent of the cases are female and 50 per cent are male.
• 53 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.

Of 8,982 confirmed cases:

• 2,752 cases are from the Saskatoon area
• 1,809 cases are from the north area (652 north west, 847 north central, 310 north east)
• 1,634 cases are from the Regina area
• 1,151 cases are from the south area (442 south west, 412 south central, 297 south east)
• 966 cases are from the far north area (618 far north west, 83 far north central, 265 far north east)
• 637 cases are from the central area (275 central west, 362 central east)
• 33 cases have pending residence information

To date, 350,391 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of November 30, 2020 when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 223,304 people tested per million population. The national rate was 307,889 people tested per million population.

Yesterday, 2,473 COVID-19 tests were processed in Saskatchewan.

December has already had six deaths from COVID-19 complications. (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)

Drive-thru testing available in Prince Albert

Starting Wednesday, the Sask​​​atchewan Health Authority is offering daily, drive-thru mobile testing in Prince Albert.

The drive-thru testing site is The Cone Shop and Car Wash (890 6th Avenue East) from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week.

This new site will be in addition to the drive-thru testing sites already operating in Saskatoon, Regina and Yorkton. Referrals for COVID-19 testing are also available from HealthLine 811 or your local health care provider.

More information on COVID-19 testing can be found at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-testing.

The rate of hospitalizations in the province continues to increase, with 132 people currently in hospital as of Dec. 2. (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)

Public Health Measures

For more information on the current public health measures or to see the Public Health Order, visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19.

Additional Resources

Posters outlining public health measures are now available in French, Mandarin, Tagalog and Urdu at https://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-posters#utm_campaign=q2_2015&utm_medium=short&utm_source=%2Fcovid19-posters.

General COVID-19 Information

General public inquiries may be directed to COVID19@health.gov.sk.ca.

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panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow