COVID-19 Update: 10 Deaths, 208 New Cases, 175 in Hospital, 405 Recoveries

Released on December 29, 2020

Today’s data update includes information for December 28 and 29.

There are 208 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on December 29, 2020, bringing the provincial total to date to 15,022 cases.  On December 28, there were 94 new cases.  On December 29, there were 114 new cases.

For December 28 and 29, 10 Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.  One death in the 20-29 age group was reported in the Saskatoon zone.  Two deaths in the 60-69 age group were reported in the North Central and Saskatoon zones.  One death in the 70-79 age group was reported in the Regina zone. Six new deaths in the age group 80+ were reported in the Far North West, North West, North Central, Central East and Regina (2) zones.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (4), Far North East (36), North West (13), North Central (33), North East (8), Saskatoon (39), Central West (4), Central East (7), Regina (39), South West (1) and South East (15) zones.  Nine (9) new cases have pending residence information.

Thirty-one previously reported cases have been assigned to the North West (1), North Central (29) and Central East (1) zones.

Of the 15,022 cases, 3,191 cases are considered active.  A total of 11,680 individuals have recovered.

One seventy-five people are in hospital.  One hundred and forty-three  people are receiving inpatient care: one in the Far North West, one in the Far North Central; 10 in the North West; 26 in the North Central; three in the North East; 56 in the Saskatoon; one in the Central West; five in the Central East; 26 in the Regina; one in the South West; and 13 in the South East zones.  Thirty-two people are in intensive care: two in the North West; five in the North Central; 12 in the Saskatoon; one in Central East; 11 in Regina; and one in the South West zones.

As of December 28, 2,371 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine have been provided to health care workers in Regina as part of the initial pilot and in Saskatoon as part of Phase 1.

Of the 15,022 cases in the province:

• 620 cases are travelers;
• 7,251 are community contacts (including mass gatherings);
• 3,458 have no known exposures; and
• 3,693 are under investigation by local public health. 

Overall in Saskatchewan to date:

• 674 cases are healthcare workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to healthcare in all instances. 
• 3,170 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults. 
• 5,373 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 3,851 are in the 40-59 age range; 1,953 are in the 60-79 age range; and 670 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. 
• 151 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.

Of 15,022 confirmed cases: 

• 4,251 cases are from the Saskatoon area
• 3,621 cases are from the north area (1,378 north west, 1,744 north central, 499 north east)
• 2,923 cases are from the Regina area
• 1,654 cases are from the far north (896 far north west, 106 far north central, 652 far north east)
• 1,548 cases are from the south (557 south west, 532 south central, 459 south east)
• 920 cases are from the central area (339 central west, 581 central east)
• 105 cases have pending residence information

To date, 423,058 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of December 27, 2020 when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 255,670 people tested per million population.  The national rate was 362,422 people tested per million population.

For December 28 and 29, 2,438 COVID-19 tests were processed in Saskatchewan (December 28: 1,239; December 29: 1,199).

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 154 (12.7 new cases per 100,000 population) and is now available on the Government of Saskatchewan website.  This chart compares today’s average to data collected over the past several months.  Please visit https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness/covid-19/seven-day-average-of-new-covid-cases.

Expansion to Drive-thru Testing Sites

The Saskatchewan Health Authority is expanding drive-thru testing hours in Regina and Saskatoon.  Effective January 2, the Saskatoon site will be open seven days a week, while the Regina site will have expanded hours, opening each day at 11:30 a.m.  More information can be found at https://www.saskhealthauthority.ca/news/releases/Pages/2020/December/Regina-and-Saskatoon-Drive-thru-Testing-to-expand-in-January.aspx.

Please be aware that the COVID-19 drive-thru testing sites have modified their hours for the holiday season. Please check the Government of Saskatchewan website for dates and times for drive-thru testing between now and January 2:
https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/testing-information.

Case Information Posting through New Year’s

The daily provincial case information, including news release and dashboard, will be posted through December 31, but an update will not be available January 1. Case information from January 1 will be included in the next, scheduled information posting on January 2.

Public Health Measures 

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

General COVID-19 Information

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

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For more information, contact:

Health
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4083
Email: media@health.gov.sk.ca