Saskatchewan adds 280 COVID-19 infections, no new deaths

The government of Saskatchewan is reporting 280 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday and no new deaths.

Officials said that the total number of deaths was incorrectly reported on Friday as 437 and the number should be 436, as a death was previously incorrectly reported.

Regina is reporting 127 new COVID-19 cases, followed by Saskatoon with 51 new cases.

Read more: Alberta Health investigating COVID-19 outbreak linked to traveller with P.1 variant

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 220, or 17.9 per 100,000.

There are 189 people in hospital with COVID-19, with 42 of those patients in intensive care. Regina has the highest amount of patients receiving intensive care with 26 patients.

A total of 3,336 COVID-19 tests were process on Friday.

As of Friday, 2,226 variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan. The VOCs have been reported in the far north east (2) north west (1), north central (16), Saskatoon (117), central west (12), central east (32), Regina (1,578), south west (7), south central (173) and south east (157 ) zones. There are 131 cases with area of residence pending.

Saskatchewan officials are asking resident to keep Easter weekend safe by following public health recommendations and measures. Officials ask residents to consider making gatherings virtual and keep Easter egg hunts to immediate households only.

A letter penned and signed by Saskatchewan doctors and medical health officers said that vaccinations are important but won’t be enough to curb the increasing spread of harmful COVID-19 variants soon in the province.

“Unless we take all of our other public health precautions seriously in the days ahead, some will not survive to see those normal days.”;

The signees ask residents to go above and beyond following restrictions in place, comparing the situation to driving in a bad snowstorm.

“The risks are too great if we hurtle along at the speed limit oblivious to the icy roads and reduced visibility that threaten to plunge us into the ditch.”;

Read more: Family visits restricted in southern Sask. health facilities to palliative, end-of-life care

Signees ask residents to plan virtual gatherings instead of meeting in person. The health-care workers said that that transmission between households is one of the top causes of COVID transmission.

“Holiday travel has the potential to carry the virus around the province. We typically see case surges post-holidays. Easter brings us to another tipping point,” the letter read.

“We are asking you to ask yourself: Just because I can do it, should I do it?

“That means avoiding non-essential travel to anywhere outside your home community, putting off that Easter family gathering until next year,”; the letter read.

To read the full letter and see who signed it, see the SHA’s news release.

A total of 5,504 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered on Friday.