In the April 19 COVID-19 update from The Saskatchewan Health Authority they are reporting a total of 243 new cases of the virus in the province.

Of those 243 new cases there are 4 in the Far North West zone, 27 in the North West zone, 3 in the North Central zone, 47 in the Saskatoon zone, 12 in the Central West zone, 10 in the Central East zone, and 82 in the Regina zone.

There are currently 9 new cases in the South West zone, 17 in the South Central zone, and 22 in the South East zone.

There are 10 new cases with pending residence information.

Four cases with pending residence information were assigned as follows - 3 to the North West zone, and 1 to the North Central zone.

Three cases found to be out of the province residents were removed from the Saskatoon (2) and pending residence (1) totals.

One case  not previously reported was added to the Saskatoon zone.

That brings the provincial total number of cases to 38,401, of which 2,626 are considered active.

There are currently 106 active cases in the South West zone - 67 in the South West subzone 1, and 39 in the South West subzone 2.

There were no new deaths reported, leaving the provincial total number of deaths at 465.

There are 200 people in hospital. One hundred and fifty-seven people are receiving inpatient care - 1 in the Far North West zone, 1 in the Far North East zone, 5 in the North West zone, 6 in the North Central zone, 1 in the North East zone, 47 in the Saskatoon zone, 7 in the Central East zone, and 74 in the Regina zone.

There is 1 person receiving inpatient care in the South West zone, 6 in the South Central zone, and 8 in the South East zone.

There are 43 people in intensive care -  1 in the North Central zone, 9 in the Saskatoon zone, 1 in the Central East zone, 31 in the Regina zone, and 1 in the South Central zone.

There have been 357 recoveries, bringing that provincial total to 35,310.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 case numbers is 253 (20.6 new cases per 100,000 population).

To date, 731,589 COVID-19 tests have been processed in the province.

And yesterday, there were 3,098 COVID-19 tests processed.

As of April 18, there were 4,833 variants of concern cases identified by screening - 35 in the Far North West zone, 2 in the Far North East zone, 84 in the North West zone, 59 in the North Central zone, 6 in the North East zone, 462 in the Saskatoon zone, 67 in the Central West zone, 180 in the Central East zone, and 2,919 in the Regina zone.

As of April 18, there were 107 variants of concern cases in the South West zone, 391 in the South Central zone, and 472 in the South East zone.

There are 49 cases with residence pending.

There are 0 new lineage results reported. Of the 1,918 variants of concern with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 1,918 are B.1.1.1.7 (UK), and 9 are B.1.351(SA).

The Regina zone accounts for 1,413 (or 74%) of the variants of concern cases with confirmed lineage in Saskatchewan.

Residents are asked to avoid all unnecessary travel throughout the province at this time.

An additional 7,043 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered to 352,169.

Of those 7,043 does given, there were  77 given in the South West zone.

Fifty per cent of residents age 40+ have received their first dose.

The Ministry of Health has been informed of a reduction in the April 26 Moderna shipment. Saskatchewan's allocation has been reduced by 47%, from 35,800 doses to 18,800  doses.

The ministry is working with the SHA and Indigenous Services Canada to determine the potential impact this reduction could have on booked appointments and the pharmacy vaccination pilot project, and will have an update in the coming days.

Canada has purchased an additional eight million Pfizer doses for delivery between May and July. Allocation to Saskatchewan is to be determined.

The eligible age for booking vaccination appointments online or by telephone has been lowered to 48 years.

Almost 256,000 COVID-19 vaccination appointments have been made using the provincial booking system; approximately 62% online and 38% by phone.

All drive-thru and walk-in COVID-19 vaccination clinics are available to residents ages 48-54. Note that Regina and Saskatoon drive-thru clinics have been temporarily suspended until additional vaccine supply is received. Vaccine supply remains limited and drive-thru/walk-in clinics may close early when all vaccine is administered.