COVID-19 Update: Three Deaths, 147 New Cases, 151 in Hospital, 378 Recoveries

Released on December 30, 2020

Three Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.  All three deaths were in the Saskatoon zone, with one in the 30-39, one in the 60-69 and one in the 80+ age groups.

There are 147 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on December 30, 2020, bringing the provincial total to date to 15,160 cases.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (4), Far North East (25), North West (9), North Central (10), North East (5), Saskatoon (13), Central East (7), Regina (44), South West (2), South Central (3) and South East (17) zones.  Eight (8) new cases have pending residence information.

Nine cases with pending residence information, previously reported, have been found to be out-of-province residents and were removed from the counts.

Seventeen previously reported cases have been assigned to the North Central (16) and Regina (1) zones.

Of the 15,160 cases, 2,949 cases are considered active.  A total of 12,057 individuals have recovered.

One hundred and fifty-one people are in hospital.  One hundred and nineteen  people are receiving inpatient care: one in the Far North West, one in the Far North Central; eight in the North West; 22 in the North Central; two in the North East; 50 in the Saskatoon; one in the Central West; four in the Central East; 28 in the Regina; one in the South West; and one in the South East zones.  Thirty-two people are in intensive care: two in the North West; five in the North Central; 13 in the Saskatoon; one in Central East; 10 in Regina; and one in the South West zones.

As of December 29, 2,942 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 15,160 cases in the province:

• 626 cases are travelers;
• 7,431 are community contacts (including mass gatherings);
• 3,529 have no known exposures; and
• 3,574 are under investigation by local public health. 

Overall in Saskatchewan to date:

• 710 cases are healthcare workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to healthcare in all instances.
• 3,193 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults. 
• 5,431 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 3,886 are in the 40-59 age range; 1,972 are in the 60-79 age range; and 673 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. 
• 154 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.

Of 15,160 confirmed cases: 

• 4,264 cases are from the Saskatoon area
• 3,661 cases are from the north area (1,387 north west, 1,770 north central, 504 north east)
• 2,968 cases are from the Regina area
• 1,683 cases are from the far north (900 far north west, 106 far north central, 677 far north east)
• 1,570 cases are from the south (559 south west, 535 south central, 476 south east)
• 927 cases are from the central area (339 central west, 588 central east)
• 87 cases have pending residence information

To date, 424,533 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of December 28, 2020 when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 256,133 people tested per million population.  The national rate was 364,733 people tested per million population.

Yesterday, 1,475 COVID-19 tests were processed in Saskatchewan.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 152 (12.5 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 4, 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. starting January 2.  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.

-30-

For more information, contact:

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