COVID-19 Update for February 18: 50,465 Vaccines Delivered, 146 New Cases, 171 Recoveries, No New Deaths

Released on February 18, 2021

Vaccine Delivery

There were 109 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered yesterday in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 50,465.

The 109 doses were administered in the Far North West (11), Far North East (30) and North Central (68). The South East zone has reported an additional 10 doses administered on February 5, and the Far North East zone has reported an additional 20 doses administered on February 16.

With the reduction in Moderna vaccines originally scheduled for the week February 22, approximately 900 individuals will receive their second dose after the recommended 42 day period as soon as Moderna supplies are available.  Please note that seniors living in congregate living arrangements and residents 70+ will receive their second dose within the 42 day period.  The remaining long term care and personal care home staff and health care providers will receive their second dose on the basis of age as close to the 42 day interval as possible.  Individuals who have had a delay in the administration of their second dose will not have to restart the series.

Note that we remain in Phase One of vaccine delivery, targeting residents and staff of long-term and personal-care homes, identified health care providers, residents 70 years and older and residents aged 50 and older in remote/Northern Saskatchewan.  Eligible populations will be contacted directly to receive their vaccinations.  Registration for appointments for Phase Two sequenced populations will be available when Phase Two commences.  Please do not contact HealthLine 811 to register for vaccinations at this time.  Notification will be provided when the registration system is available.

For a listing of first and second doses in Saskatchewan administered by geographic zone, visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine-update.

Daily COVID-19 Statistics

There are 146 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on February 18, bringing the provincial total to 27,099 cases.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (7), Far North Central (10), Far North East (5), North West (15), North Central (7), North East (10), Saskatoon (41), Central West (4), Central East (10), Regina (34), South Central (1) and South East (1) zones and one (1) case has pending resident information.

There are a total of 25,221 recoveries and 1,516 cases are considered active.

One hundred and seventy-four (174) people are in hospital.  One hundred and fifty-one (151) people are receiving inpatient care: Far North West (3), Far North Central (1), Far North East (1), North West (16), North Central (14), North East (1), Saskatoon (57), Central West (2), Central East (8), Regina (42), South West (1), South Central (1) and South East (4).  Twenty-three people are in intensive care: North West (1), North Central (2), Saskatoon (11), Central East (1), and Regina (8).

There were 2,206 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on February 17, 2021.

Please note that, like most categories of statistics reported, daily testing numbers include those pending by location as noted in the footnotes daily on the Tests By Region page in the dashboard.  Total testing numbers will include tests that are still pending by location; those numbers will not appear in the regional statistics until they are assigned.

To date, 551,283 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of February 16, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan's per capita rate was 463,537 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 612,673 tests performed per million population.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 164 (13.4 new cases per 100,000) 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.

Further statistics on the total number of cases among healthcare workers, breakdowns of total cases by source of infection, age, sex and region, total tests to date and the per capita testing rate can be found on the Government of Saskatchewan website.  Please visit www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/cases-and-risk-of-covid-19-in-saskatchewan.

Get Tested for COVID-19

While Saskatchewan has been supporting asymptomatic COVID-19 testing throughout the pandemic event, symptomatic residents were advised to get tested 48 hours after symptom onset to reduce the risk of false negative test results.

Recent guidance from the European Centre for Disease Control and the increased risk of variants of concern in Canada has resulted in an update to the policy: if you are symptomatic, get tested for COVID-19 immediately.  Asymptomatic testing remains available.  High rates of testing allow public health to effectively track transmission in our province; effective self-isolation and contact investigations will prevent additional COVID-19 cases.

If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, even if they are mild, get tested as soon as possible.  Anyone who receives a negative test result but continues to experience symptoms should be retested.  Getting tested and knowing your status is an important step to protecting yourself and others against COVID-19.  

Assess Your Risk and Get Tested

The Government of Saskatchewan continues to recommend against all non-essential 

travel.  International travelers must abide by federal testing and quarantine measures.  If you have chosen to travel inter-provincially during the break week, get tested as soon as you return to Saskatchewan and plan for a follow up test seven days later.  

The presence of new variants across Canada means an elevated risk of bringing more transmissible strains of COVID-19 home with you.   While you cannot test your way out of travel risks, testing is the best tool available to protect your family, friends and all residents of Saskatchewan against COVID-19 if you have travelled.

You do not need to be experiencing symptoms in order to have COVID-19.  Finding testing options near you at https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/testing-information  

Enforcing Public Health Measures 

Enforcement of public health orders is permitted under The Public Health Act, 1994.  Public health inspectors will be supported in their efforts to ticket violators quickly to ensure that businesses and events are brought into compliance as quickly as possible, in addition to the enforcement efforts that have been undertaken by police agencies throughout the province.

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

Weekly Reporting of Testing Numbers and Cases for Youth

The trends of COVID-19 cases in school-aged children are being monitored.  The weekly report of cases and testing numbers for children aged 0-19, including data by age and positivity rates, has been posted at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19-Safe-Schools-Plan.

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