COVID-19 in Sask: 246 new COVID-19 cases announced Friday

Public health officials announced 246 new COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan Friday.

Sixty-five of Friday's new cases were from the Saskatoon area, 50 were from the Regina area, 34 were found in the north central zone and 24 were in the north west.

Nineteen new cases were linked to the far north west, 14 to the south east and 13 from the far north east. Nine of the new cases were from the north east zone, seven were from south central, six were in central east, three were from the central west zone and one new case was found in each of the far north central and south west zones.

The total of known active COVID-19 cases in the province has now dropped to 4,547, after public health officials deemed another 387 cases as recovered Friday. The province says the number of known active cases could be inflated due to a backlog of data review.

Another 21 health-care workers have tested positive for COVID-19. Since the pandemic hit Saskatchewan, 397 health-care workers have contracted COVID-19, with 324 coming since the beginning of October.

More than 4,000 Saskatchewan residents aged 20 to 39 have now contracted COVID-19, as 91 more people in that demographic have tested positive for the illness. People in their 20s or 30s account for more than 35 per cent of Saskatchewan's total cases.

Meanwhile, another 61 people in their 40s or 50s have tested positive, as have 58 more people aged 19 or younger.

There are five fewer COVID-19 patients in hospital Friday compared to a day previous, including four fewer patients in the intensive care unit. There are currently 133 hospitalizations, including 27 in ICU.

There were 3,497 COVID-19 tests performed in Saskatchewan Thursday, pushing the total number to 379,378.

The seven-day average of positive tests is 282 — a decrease of one from Thursday.

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