In addition to 81 per cent of long-term care residents having received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 46 per cent of long-term care residents having received both first and second doses, 76 per cent of Saskatchewan’s personal care homes have now received their first dose and 24 per cent have received both doses. Ensuring our priority populations, including seniors living in long-term and personal care homes, are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 remains the priority for the Government of Saskatchewan.

There were 683 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered yesterday in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 63,345.

The 683 doses were administered in the Far Northwest (43), Far North Central (33), Saskatoon (318) and Regina (289) zones. On Feb. 22, an additional 318 doses were administered in the Saskatoon zone and an additional two (2) doses were administered in the Central East zone.

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

Pfizer vaccine shipments for the week of Feb. 22 have now arrived in the Saskatoon and Regina zones. Shipments for the Northwest, North Central and Southwest zones are scheduled to arrive later today.

Daily COVID-19 Statistics
There are 56 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan Feb. 24, bringing the provincial total to 27,980 cases.

Three Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died. Two deaths were reported in the 80-plus age group from the Saskatoon (1) and Central East (1) zones and one death in the 60-69 age group from the Northwest (1) zone.

The new cases are located in the Far Northwest (5), Far North Central (2), Far Northeast (15), Northwest (2), North Central (5), Saskatoon (6), Central East (1), Regina (16), and South Central (1), Southeast (1) zones and two (2) cases have pending residence information. Eighteen cases with pending residence information were assigned to the Far Northeast (1), Northwest (7), North Central (8) and Regina (2) zones. One Saskatchewan resident who tested positive out of province has been added to the Northwest (1) zone.

There are a total of 26,176 recoveries and 1,425 cases are considered active.

One hundred sixty-five (165) people are in hospital. One hundred forty-eight (148) people are receiving inpatient care: Far Northwest (7), Far North Central (2), Far Northeast (2), Northwest (12), North Central (14), Northeast (2), Saskatoon (54), Central West (1), Central East (6), Regina (41), South Central (3) and Southeast (4). Seventeen (17) people are in intensive care: Northwest (2), North Central (1), Saskatoon (8), and Regina (6).

There were 2,155 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan Feb. 23.

Please note, 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, 565,210 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of Feb. 22, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 475,335 tests performed per million population. The national rate was 628,352 tests performed per million population.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 146 (11.9 new cases per 100,000). A chart comparing today’s average to data collected over the past several months is available on the Government of Saskatchewan website. 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. 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.

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 choose to travel inter-provincially, 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. Find 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 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.

General COVID-19 Information
General public inquiries may be directed to COVID19@health.gov.sk.ca.