In the February 2 COVID-19 update from The Saskatchewan Health Authority they are reporting a total of 223 new cases of the virus in the province.

Of those 223 new cases there are 14 in the Far North West zone, 8 in the Far North Central zone, 8 in the Far North East zone, 18 in the North West zone, 28 in the North Central zone, 7 in the North East zone, 38 in the Saskatoon zone, 6 in the Central West zone, 3 in the Central East zone, 65 in the Regina zone, 7 in the South Central zone, and 8 in the South East zone.

There are 13 new cases with pending residence information.

Two Saskatchewan residents who were previously tested out of the province have been assigned to the Far North East zone.

That brings the provincial total number of COVID-19 cases to 24,236, of which 2,320 are considered active.

There are currently 9 active cases in the South West zone, all of them in subzone 1 which is the Climax, Frontier, Eastend, Shaunavon, Gull Lake, Leader and Maple Creek areas.

There is an active outbreak still at the Assiniboia Union Hospital in the South Central zone. In non-household settings, an outbreak is confirmed when two or more people test positive for COVID-19.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 227 (18.5 new cases per 100,000 population).

Eight Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died. One reported death was in the 40-49 age group in the North West zone, one reported death was in the 50-59 age group in the Regina zone, two reported deaths were in the 60-69 age group in the North West zone (1) and the North Central zone (1), two reported deaths were in the 70-79 age group in the Saskatoon zone (1) and the South East zone (1), and two reported deaths were in the 80+ age group in the Saskatoon zone (1) and the South East zone (1).

That brings the total number of deaths related to COVID-19 in the province to 314.

The Ministry of Health is continuing to update data reporting systems. As such, hospitalization data is not available for February 2.

There are 266 recoveries, bringing that provincial total to 21,602.

To date, there have been 512,512 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan.

And yesterday, there were 1,974 tests processed.

There were 106 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered yesterday in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered to 35,575. As of February 2, 109% of the doses received have been administered. This overage is due to efficiencies in drawing extra doses from vials of vaccine received.

The UK COVID-19 variant (B.1.1.7) has been detected in two residents in the Regina zone.

The contact investigation has determined that one case has travelled from the United Kingdom and the second is a close contact of the traveler. These individuals were tested mid-January. While the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory is testing travelers for variants of concern, those tests must be genome-sequenced at t he National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg and this process can take one to two weeks.

Both residents guarantied following the travel and are now no longer infectious. Public Health's contact investigation indicates that all contacts of these residents have been identified and there is no indication of further transmission.

Non-essential travel is not recommended at this time. The best protection against all COVID-19 variants remains the same as protection against COVID 19-stay home, physically distance, wash your hands frequently, wear a mask and get tested if you are experiencing even mild symptoms.

The Government of Saskatchewan is considering the impact of variants on COVID-19 planning including any required increase to public health measures and surge capacity planning.