Four kids under 11 in hospital with virus

Four Saskatchewan children under the age of 11 are currently in hospital with COVID-19 as the provincial government warns that the vast majority of school-aged kids testing positive live in unvaccinated households.

Saskatchewan also reported five more deaths Tuesday, bringing the provincial total to 646.

“In a recent review of more than 1,600 cases, 98 per cent of schoolaged COVID cases lived in unimmunized or partly immunized households,” the province said in a news release Tuesday.

Looking at a total of 1,643 cases reported between Aug. 20 and Sept. 7, 189 cases were in children ages six to 12. The kids who tested positive came from 80 different households, of which only two were fully immunized.

“As of September 21, four children under 11 are in hospital; none are in ICU,” the release said.

The province noted the recent positive news of vaccine clinical trials for school-aged children and said it will “move quickly to provide COVID -19 vaccines to additional age groups as soon as any vaccine receives Health Canada approvals.”

Until then, the province urged anyone who is currently eligible — anyone born in 2009 or earlier — to get their first and seconds shots as soon as possible.

Five more people have died after testing positive for COVID -19, including one person in their 20s or 30s, two in their 60s or 70s and one over the age of 80.

Hospitalizations have also kept climbing to new record-highs.

There are currently 262 people in hospital with COVID-19 — the most of any time during the pandemic. This includes 54 people in ICU. Of those in hospital, nearly 74 per cent were not fully vaccinated.

However, Tuesday brought with it less than 400 new cases for the first time in 10 days.

There were 372 new cases reported, bringing active cases to 4,700. The seven-day average of daily new cases fell slightly to 474.

Saskatoon continues to lead the way in active cases with 1,129, although it is no longer soaring above other regions in its number of daily new cases. On Tuesday, it still had the most at 50. Regina had 49 and the north central zone had 46. The rest of the new cases are in the far north west (nine), far north central (three), far north east (41), north west (42), north east (11), central west (13), central east (17), south west (14), south central (14) and south east (18) zones. Another 45 cases are still waiting for residence information.

Due to an increased demand for vaccinations since the province announced a proof of vaccination policy beginning Oct. 1, the Saskatchewan Health Authority is expanding its vaccine clinic offerings. For an updated list of available clinics, visit the SHA website.

Only 840 more shots were administered on Monday, with half being used for first doses.