In the January 21 COVID-19 update from The Saskatchewan Health Authority they are reporting a total of 227 new cases of the virus in the province.

Of those 227 new cases there are 14 in the Far North West zone, 6 in the Far North Central zone, 7 in the Far North East zone, 18 in the North West zone, 21 in the North Central zone, 11 in the North East zone, 62 in the Saskatoon zone, 4 in the Central West zone, 12 in the Central East zone, and 50 in the Regina zone.

There are currently 2 new cases in the South West zone, 4 in the South Central zone, and 12 in the South East zone.

There are 4 new cases that have pending residence information.

Two cases with pending residence information were assigned as follows - 1 to the North West zone, and 1 to the Regina zone.

Note that 1 previously reported case was deemed to be invalid and was removed from the Central East zone count.

That brings the provincial total number of COVID-19 cases to 21,338, of which 3,099 are considered active.

There are currently 14 active cases in the South West zone.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 286 (23.6 new cases per 100,000 population).

There are 13 Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 that have died. One reported death in the 60-69 age group from Saskatoon,  3 reported deaths in the 70-79 age group in the Far North Central, North Central and Saskatoon zones, and 9 reported deaths in the 80+ age group in the Far North East zone (1), the North Central zone (1), the South East zone (1) and the Saskatoon zone (6).

That brings the total number of deaths related to COVID-19 in t he province to 239.

There have been 816 recoveries reported, bringing that provincial total to 18,000.

There are 197 people in hospital. One hundred and sixty-six are receiving inpatient care - 6 in the Far North West zone, 1 in the Far North East zone, 13 in the North West zone, 18 in the North Central zone, 6 in the North East zone, 59 in the Saskatoon zone, 1 in t he Central West zone, 12 in the Central East zone, and 40 in the Regina zone.

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

There are 31 people in intensive care - 3 in the North West zone, 4 in the North Central zone, 14 in the Saskatoon zone,  9 in the Regina zone, and 1 in the South Central zone.

Outbreaks in this area posted January 21 include the Assiniboia Union Hospital. In non-household settings, an outbreak is confirmed when 2 or more people test positive for COVID-19.

To date, there has been 481,856  COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan.

And yesterday there was 2,764 COVID-19 tests processed.

The Weekly Monitoring Report for children and youth 0-19 years of age, for the week of January 11-17, shows a total of 969 active cases of the virus in children and youth. Of those 969 cases there are 19 with pending location or residence information available.

In the Far North West zone there are 90 active cases, in the Far North Central zone there are 23 active cases, in the Far North East zone there are 119 active cases, in the North West zone there are 157 active cases, in the North Central zone there are 106 active cases, in the North East zone there are 86 active cases, in the  Central West zone there are 2 active cases, in the Central East zone there are 34 active cases, in the Saskatoon zone there are 172 active cases, in the Regina zone there are 76 active cases, in the South West zone there is 1 active case, in the South Central zone there are 15 active cases, and in the South East zone there are 69 active cases.

There were 2,548 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered yesterday in Saskatchewan. This brings the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 29,781.

Saskatchewan now has one of the highest rates of vaccinations in Canada, but the pace of vaccination will slow in the coming days with the supply of vaccines running short and no new vaccine deliveries from the federal government scheduled next week.

As of January 21, 91% of the doses received have been administered in Saskatchewan.

Administration of the first dose has been completed for long term care homes in more than 40 communities across the province.

The province received 2,925 doses of Pfizer vaccine late on Tuesday, which are currently being distributed for administration to priority populations in the Battleford area, Lloydminister, Regina and Fort Qu'Appelle.

The National Advisory Council on Immunization now recommends an extended interval between first and second doses up to 42 days where operationally necessary. Previously, second doses were to occur between 21 and 28 days,  depending on the vaccine brand. Saskatchewan will be implementing these recommendations of up to 42 days where operationally necessary in order to deliver more first doses to eligible people.