In the April 20 COVID-19 update from The Saskatchewan Health Authority they are reporting a total of 249 new cases of the virus in the province.

Of those 249 new cases there are 2 in the far North West zone, 2 in the Far North East zone, 19 in the North West zone, 17 in the North Central zone, 1 in the North East zone, 55 in the Saskatoon zone, 6 in the Central West zone, 13 in the Central East zone, and 102 in the Regina zone.

There are currently 7 new cases in the South West zone, 7 in the South Central zone, and 16 in the South East zone.

There are 2 new cases with pending residence information.

Six cases with pending residence information have been assigned as follows - 1 to the Saskatoon zone, 4 to the Regina zone, and 1 to the Central West zone.

One case found to be an out of the province resident was removed from the pending residence total.

Two cases not previously reported were added to the Central East zone (1), and pending residence totals (1).

That brings the provincial total number of cases to 38,651, of which 2,640 are considered active.

There are 102 active cases in the South West zone - 64 in the South West subzone 1, and 38 in the South West sub zone 2.

There are no new deaths reported, leaving that provincial total at 465.

There are 195 people in the hospital. One hundred and forty-four people are receiving inpatient care - 1 in the Far North West zone, 1 in the Far North East zone, 3 in the North West zone, 5 in the North Central zone, 1 in the North East zone, 45 in the Saskatoon zone, 1 in the Central West zone, 6 in the Central East zone, and 69 in the Regina zone.

There is 1 person receiving inpatient care in the South West zone, 4 in the South Central zone, and 7 in the South East zone.

There are 51 people in intensive care - 2 in the North Central zone, 10 in the Saskatoon zone, 1 in the Central East zone, 35 in the Regina zone, and 3 in the South Central zone.

The seven-day average of new COVID-18 cases is 247 (20.2 new cases per 100,000 population).

There are 236 recoveries, bringing that provincial total to 35,546.

To date, there have been 734,832 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan.

And yesterday there were 3,243 COVID-19 tests processed.

As of April 19, there were 5,027 variants of concern identified by screening in the province - 35 in the Far North West zone, 2 in the Far North East zone, 89 in the North West zone, 64 in the North Central zone, 6 in the North East zone, 497 in the Saskatoon zone, 71 in the Central West zone, 185 in the Central East zone, and 2,990 in the Regina zone.

There are currently 118 variants of concern cases in the South West zone, 404 in the South Central zone, and  500 in the South East zone.

There are 66 cases with residence pending.

There are 142 new lineage results reported. Of the 2,060 variants of concern with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing, 2,046 are B.1.1.1.7(UK),  9 are B.1.351 (SA), and 5 are P.1.(Brazilian). These are the first P.1 (Brazilian) variants detected in the province.

The Regina zone accounts for 1,475 (or 72%) of the variants of concern cases with confirmed lineage reported in Saskatchewan.

Due to increased COVID-19 transmission risk throughout the province, the Chief Medical Health Officer has extended all current provincial public health orders until May 10, 2021. The orders will be reviewed at that time.

As of April 20, guidelines regarding outdoor gatherings remain in effect.

Travel is not recommended in or out of the Regina area unless absolutely necessary.

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

An additional 5,278 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered to 357,447.

Of those 5,278 doses there were 32 administered in the South West zone.

Fifty-one per cent of residents age 40 and over have received their first vaccine dose.

The Pfizer shipments are expected to arrive in Regina and Saskatoon later today. The shipments for North Battleford, Prince Albert and Yorkton are expected Wednesday April 21.

Saskatchewan Pfizer allocations for the month of May have increased to 63,180 doses and to 74,880 doses for June.