COVID-19 in Sask: 2 weeks after Christmas, province reports 4th-highest bump in cases to date

Two weeks after Christmas Day, Saskatchewan is reporting336 new cases of COVID-19 the province'sfourth-highest daily increase in cases since the pandemic arrived in March.

Friday was also the second day in a row in which officials recorded more than 300 new cases, confirming epidemiologists' fearsof a post-holiday bump, though the end of the two-week window after New Year's Eve is still to come.

Health officials also announced seven more deaths, bringing the pandemic's total death tollin the province to 184.

The deaths reported Friday were:

• One person aged 80 or over in the north central region.
• Four people from the Regina area, including one personin the 60-69 age group, two people in the 70-79 age group and one in the 80-plusage group.
• Two people people in the southeast zone: one in the 30-39 age group and one in the 80-plus age group.

The province's seven-day average of daily new cases stands at 262, or 21.6 new cases per 100,000 people.

Just over 3,100 tests were processed on Thursday, up from2,548 on Wednesday.

Vaccine update

To date, 6,015 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province.

The last 24 hours saw the largest deliveryof vaccines yet, according to the minister of health: 1,200 doses.

Doses have been administeredin Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert and the far northwest zone.

The province's vaccine rollout plan singled outfront-line health-care workers, residents and staff of private and publicly-operated care homes, seniors80 and older, and residents of northern Saskatchewan for priority vaccination.

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