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Saskatchewan has recorded its deadliest day due to COVID-19.
In a media release Thursday, the Ministry of Health said 13 residents of the province had died due to the coronavirus. The previous single-day high of 11 deaths was reported Dec. 12.
To date, 239 Saskatchewan residents have died after testing positive for COVID-19.
The deaths reported Thursday included nine people in the 80-and-over age group, with six from the Saskatoon area and one from each of the far northeast, north-central and southeast regions.
Three people in their 70s — one from each of the Saskatoon, far north-central and north-central zones — passed away, as did a person in their 60s who lived in the Saskatoon region.
The province also set a new single-day high with 816 recoveries. The previous high of 713 was recorded on Dec. 12.
The total number of recoveries in the province now stands at 18,000. There are 3,099 active cases being reported.
There were 227 new cases announced Thursday, increasing the province’s total to date to 21,338.
The latest cases are in the Saskatoon (62), Regina (50), north-central (21), northwest (18), far northwest (14), central-east (12), southeast (12), northeast (11), far northeast (seven), far north-central (six), central-west (four), south-central (four) and southwest (two) zones. The hometowns of four cases are still being determined.
There are 197 people in hospital, including 31 in intensive care — 14 in the Saskatoon area, nine in the Regina region, four in the north-central zone, three in the northwest and one in the south-central area.
The 166 people receiving inpatient care are spread between hospitals in the Saskatoon (59), Regina (40), north-central (18), northwest (13), central-east (12), southeast (eight), far northwest (six), northeast (six), far northeast (one), central-west (one), southwest (one) and south-central (one) zones.
The number of Saskatchewan health-care workers who have contracted the virus continued to rise, reaching 1,229.
The total number of cases comprises 5,650 from the Saskatoon area, 5,575 from the north, 3,887 in the Regina region, 2,838 from the far north, 2,079 in the south, and 1,210 from the central area. Investigators are trying to determine the residences of 99 cases.
The 20-to-39 age group has had the most cases with 7,716, followed by the 40-to-59 group (5,370), the 19-and-over category (4,610), the 60-to-79 classification (2,689) and the 80-and-over group (945). The ages of eight cases remain under investigation.
The 2,764 COVID tests processed in Saskatchewan on Wednesday increased the provincial total so far to 481,856.
There were 2,548 doses of COVID vaccine administered Thursday in Saskatchewan: 800 in the Regina zone, 530 in the southeast, 418 in the northwest, 400 in the Saskatoon area, 185 in the north-central region, 175 in the central-east zone, 30 in the far northeast, and 10 in the far north-central zone.
The total number of vaccines given in the province rose to 29,781. As of Thursday, 91 per cent of the doses received in the province have been administered.
“Saskatchewan now has one of the highest rates of vaccinations administered in Canada, but the pace of vaccinations will slow in the coming days with the supply of vaccines running short and no new vaccine deliveries from the federal government scheduled next week,” the ministry said in its media release.
The ministry noted first doses have been given in long-term care homes in more than 40 communities, including Saskatoon and Prince Albert as well as communities in rural and northern Saskatchewan. Doses in Regina were to be completed Thursday.
The release added the interval between first and second doses now can be extended to up to 42 days when necessary instead of the initial interval of between 21 and 28 days. Saskatchewan plans to move to the new interval when required.