Following a day in which there was no dashboard update on the COVID-19 situation in Saskatchewan, the Ministry of Health and the Saskatchewan Health Authority are saying that an “instrument error” from the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory resulted in up to 255 invalid test results between last Wednesday and Sunday.
The samples were retested with 206 found to be inconsistent with the initial result. In order to confirm that invalid tests are negative, a full review of the data is underway and should be completed by tomorrow. Fifty-four residents at long-term care homes in Regina previously testing positive have been re-tested and confirmed to be negative for COVID-19. Further investigation is underway to determine if some of the current long-term care outbreaks can be declared over and family presence be resumed at these facilities.
Otherwise, there were 328 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the province over the last two days, plus 253 recoveries, leaving 1,625 active cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan. There have also been six new deaths, upping the total number of virus-related fatalities in the province to 592. As well, there are 100 people in hospital because of positive COVID-19 tests with 14 infections being treated in an I-C-U. The last time there were 100 people in hospital because of COVID-19 in the province was back on June 11th.
Plus, the Saskatchewan Government is permitting the administration of additional doses of COVID-19 vaccinations for residents who may require them for international travel. Residents who received a combination of AstraZeneca, Pfizer or Moderna can receive a third dose of either Pfizer or Moderna.
Highlights
- As of August 24th, there are 139 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 52,800 reported cases
- The new cases are located in the Far North West (18), Far North Central (2), Far North East (8), North West (13), North Central (16), North East (2), Saskatoon (46), Central West (5), Central East (2), Regina (4), South Central (1) and South East (6) zones and 16 new cases have pending residence information
- Twenty-six (26) cases with pending residence information were assigned to the Far North West (from Aug 22 (6)), Far North East (from Aug 12 (2), Aug 17 (1), Aug 18 (1), Aug 19 (8), Aug 20 (2), Aug 22 (1)), North Central (from Aug 20 (3)), Saskatoon (from Aug (21 (1)), and Regina (from Aug 20 (1)) zones
- One (1) SK resident tested out-of-province was added to the case counts in the Far North East (from Aug 21 (1)) zone
- 52,800 cases are confirmed
- 12,457 cases are from the Saskatoon area
- 12,452 cases are from the Regina area
- 11,671 cases are from the North area (4,957 North West, 4,902 North Central, 1,812 North East)
- 6,296 cases are from the Far North area (3,135 Far North West, 463 Far North Central, 2,698 Far North East)
- 6,281 cases are from the South area (1,254 South West, 2,044 South Central, 2,983 South East)
- 3,450 cases are from the Central area (890 Central West, 2,560 Central East)
- 193 cases have pending residence information
- 1,625 cases are considered active and 50,583 cases are considered recovered
- Almost one half (46.8%) of new cases are in the 20 to 39 years age category
- Just over one in ten (11.5%) of new cases were fully vaccinated
- As of August 24th, a total of 100 individuals are hospitalized, including 86 inpatient hospitalizations and 14 ICU hospitalizations. Of the 100 patients, 69 (69.0%) were not fully vaccinated.
- Four (4) new deaths reported today. 592 Saskatchewan residents with COVID-19 have died, with a case fatality rate of 1.1%
- 1,003,767 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province. As of August 22, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers are available from PHAC, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 845,696 tests performed per million. The national rate was 1,050,712 tests performed per million.
- The 7-day average of new COVID-19 case number was 184 (15.3 new cases per 100,000)
The Ministry of Health and Saskatchewan Health Authority have identified an instrument error that occurred at the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory resulting in up to 255 invalid COVID-19 test results from August 18 – 22. These samples have been retested and 206 are inconsistent with the first result. In order to confirm that invalid tests are negative, a full reconciliation of the data is underway and should be completed by tomorrow. Family notification is commencing immediately for LTC residents identified as false-positive that have since tested negative and for residents living in impacted facilities.
Fifty-four residents at long-term care homes in Regina previously testing positive have been re-tested and confirmed to be negative for COVID-19. Further investigation is underway to determine if some of the current long-term care outbreaks can be declared over and family presence be resumed at these facilities.
The RRPL receives test samples from around the province. Affected individuals will be contacted to confirm their test results
Additional Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine
The Government of Saskatchewan is permitting the administration of additional doses of COVID-19 vaccinations for residents who may require them for international travel.
Residents who received a combination of AstraZeneca, Pfizer or Moderna can receive a third dose of either mRNA vaccine brand (Pfizer or Moderna).
Individuals who received two doses of Covishield or Astra Zeneca can receive two additional matching mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer or Moderna to support international travel requirements. The same 28-day interval between doses applies.
Some countries are requiring proof of vaccination with specific vaccines. The most common is requiring two doses of the same mRNA vaccine such as Pfizer or Moderna. Individuals should check on the approved vaccines for the country, venue or destination they are intending to visit.
Proof of intent to travel will not be required to receive the vaccination. Appointments can be booked at pharmacies offering vaccinations or watch for a pop-up clinic at a nearby location.
All vaccines given in Canada are approved by Health Canada and are safe and effective, and offer good protection against all known strains of the virus including the Delta variant.
For more information visit www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine.
COVID-19 Summary for August 24, 2021:
- From August 18 – 24, 14,012 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 1,462,380.
- As of August 24, 76 per cent of those 12+ have received their first dose and 67 per cent of those 12+ are fully vaccinated.
- There were 1,291 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan from August 18 – 24, bringing the provincial total to 52,800 cases. Six hundred and eighty-seven recoveries were recorded during the same period.
- The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan is currently 184 (15.3 per 100,000).
- Six new deaths were reported August 18 – 24.
- There were 17 cases confirmed as Variants of Concern between August 18 – 24.
- As of August 24, there are 100 people in hospital: 86 are receiving inpatient care and 14 are in intensive care. Sixty-nine of the people in hospital (69%) are not fully vaccinated.
- From August 18 – 24, there were 14,830 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan.
Daily provincial COVID-19 statistics by age, date and geographic zones including active cases, recoveries and confirmed variants of concern can be found at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-cases.
