COVID-19 in Sask: Public health orders extended as daily death toll reaches new high

Saskatchewan saw its deadliest day of the pandemic, with a record-high 14 fatalitiesreported on Tuesday.

The previous record came on Jan. 21, when 13 people died after being diagnosed with the virus.

The province has now reported 268 COVID-related deaths since the pandemic came to theprovince.Of those, 115 deaths have happened in 2021.

One of the newly reported deaths Tuesday was a person was in their 40s who lived in the north central zone.

Two people were in their 50s, with one from the Regina area and the other from the Saskatoon zone.

Another two people were in their 60s from the Saskatoon zone.

Three people were in their 70sand were from the Regina, Saskatoon and southeast zones. Six people were in their 80sand lived in the far northwest, north central, Regina, southeast and Saskatoon zones.

New cases

The province also reported 232 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total provincial caseload so far to 22,646.

Here's where the new cases are:

• Far northwest: 23.
• Far north central: three.
• Far northeast: four.
• Northwest: 45.
• North central: 31.
• Northeast: seven.
• Saskatoon zone: 47.
• Central west: three.
• Central east: four.
• Regina zone: 46.
• South central: two.
• Southeast: six.

There are 11 cases with pending locations.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 254, or 20.7 new cases per 100,000 people.

The province says atotal of 19,729 known caseshave recovered from the virus, an increase of 839 since Monday. Of the province's total cases, 2,665 are considered active.

There are 208 people with COVID-19 in hospital, 33 of whom are in the ICU.

The province processed 2,160 COVID-19 tests on Monday.

Public health measures extended

The province is not implementing any new health measures to contain the spread of the virus, but it is extending the measures that currently are in place.

The public health order will remain in effect until Feb. 19. They were set to expire on Jan. 29.

The measures include a province-wide mask mandate, outdoor gatherings limited to 10 people maximum, while private indoor gatherings are limited to immediate households only.

Visits to long-term care and personal care homes remain suspended except for compassionate reasons.

Additionally, no alcohol sales are permitted after 10 p.m. in licensed establishments and sports remains suspended. A full list of current measures is available here.

3 businesses fined for not following public health order

The government of Saskatchewan says enforcement of public health orders will continue to ensure businesses and events are brought into compliance as quickly as possible.

On Tuesday, three businesses were fined under the Public Health Act.

Crackers and the Crazy Cactus in Saskatoon and Stats Cocktails and Dreams in Regina have each been fined $14,000 each.

Vaccine update

The province administered 362 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in Saskatchewan to 34,080.

The doses were administered in the following areas:

• Saskatoon: 241.
• Far North West: 22.
• North East: 23.
• North West: 66.
• Central East: 10.

As of Tuesday, the province says it has administered 104 per cent of the number of doses it has officially received, with the overagedue to efficiencies in drawing extra doses from vials.

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