COVID-19 in Sask.: 185 new cases, 2 deaths reported Saturday
CBC
Saskatchewan reported 185 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday and two more deaths from the illness.
Of the 185 new cases, 117 were unvaccinated (63 per cent), 65 cases were vaccinated (35 per cent) and three were partially vaccinated, according to the latest update on the province's online dashboard.
A person is considered "unvaccinated" if they've had no vaccine shot, or it's been less than 21 days since their first shot, the province says.
One quarter of the new cases (47) were reported in children under 12 who, until Friday, could not be vaccinated. Health Canada approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for kids aged five to 11 on Friday.
The new cases posted Saturday were in the following health zones:
Residence information for three new cases is pending.
Saskatchewan reported 1,167 active cases on Saturday, an increase of 65 from Friday.
There are 155 people in Saskatchewan hospitals with COVID-19, 107 of whom (69 per cent) are not fully vaccinated, the dashboard says.
The province reported 39 people are in Saskatchewan intensive care units with the illness and another nine are still being cared for in Ontario ICUs.
The two deaths reported Saturday bring Saskatchewan's total to 910.
Saskatchewan has often had the worst COVID-19 death rate among Canadian provinces, according to the Health Canada COVID-19 daily epidemiology update.
As of Friday, the province had a seven-day rate of 1.4 deaths per 100,000 people — the highest among the provinces, followed closely by Manitoba's 1.2 deaths per 100,000 population over the same period.
Manitoba now has the highest per capita case rate among provinces, with 73 cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days. Saskatchewan has the second-highest rate, with 59 cases per 100,000 over that period.
Saskatchewan also reported Saturday that 2,477 more COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered. Of those, 614 were first doses and 1,863 were second doses.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.