Six people from the Regina area were among the eight COVID-related deaths reported by the Saskatchewan government Friday.
The Regina region reported two deaths in each of the 60-to-69 and 80-and-over age groups, and one in each of the 40-to-49 and 70-to-79 age groups.
One person in their 60s from the Saskatoon zone and one person in the 80-and-over range from the central-east region also died.
To date, 247 Saskatchewan residents have died after testing positive for the coronavirus. That total includes 92 deaths in January alone.
The province also reported 312 new cases Friday, increasing the province’s total since March to 21,643.
Seven cases that previously were included in Saskatchewan’s total were deemed to be out-of-province residents and were removed from the province’s count.
The new cases reported Friday were in the Saskatoon (88), Regina (47), northwest (40), north-central (39), northeast (20), far northeast (14), central-east (14), southeast (14), far northwest (11), central-west (seven), south-central (four), far north-central (one) and southwest (one) zones. The hometowns of 12 new cases are pending.
The seven-day average of new cases is 275, or 22.7 per 100,000 population.
There were 203 recoveries reported, increasing that total to date to 18,200. There are 3,196 active cases being reported in the province.
The number of hospitalizations in the province dropped by 20, to 177. That’s the lowest that figure has been at in more than two weeks.
There are 30 people in intensive care, with 14 in the Saskatoon zone, nine in the Regina region, four in the north-central area, two in the northwest and one in the south-central zone.
The 147 people receiving inpatient care are in the Saskatoon (54), Regina (39), north-central (17), northwest (12), central-east (nine), southeast (seven), far northwest (four), northeast (two), central-west (one), southwest (one) and south-central (one) zones.
A number of hospitals are on the province’s list of outbreak locations, including Union Hospital in Assiniboia, Kamsack Hospital, Yorkton Regional Health Centre (including the ICU unit) and units 3F and 5E at Regina’s General Hospital.
The 3,147 tests processed in Saskatchewan on Thursday hiked the total to date to 485,003.
Vaccinations slowing down
There were 1,448 vaccinations done in the province Thursday, the lowest total this week.
They were given in the Regina (381), northwest (358), southeast (287), Saskatoon (202), north-central (101), central-east (73), northeast (22), far northwest (10), far northeast (10) and far north-central (four) areas.
To date, 31,275 doses have been administered in the province, or 96 per cent of the doses Saskatchewan has received from the federal government.
The Ministry of Health said Saskatchewan is to receive 5,850 doses of the Pfizer vaccine on Feb. 1. Saskatchewan isn’t to get a shipment next week due to a slowdown in Pfizer’s production.
A Moderna shipment of 6,500 doses expected Feb. 1 will be distributed to the far northwest, far northeast, northeast and central-west zones. A Feb. 22 shipment of 7,100 doses from Moderna is to go to the far northeast, northeast and central-east areas.