After two days of huge increases in COVID-19 recoveries, the province came back to earth a bit on that front today and saw more new cases than they had for several days as well. And, as has been the case most days in the last few months, there were deaths connected to the virus as well. 

The Saskatchewan Health Authority announced eight patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 had died. Six of these deaths were reported in the Regina area, with the youngest of them being in their 40s. 

The province also saw a jump in new cases today, as they identified 312 new COVID-19 cases for a total of 21,643. After days of higher recovery totals, the province announced just 203 recoveries today for a total of 18,200. There are 3196 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. 

The new cases are located in the Far North West (11), Far North Central (1), Far North East (14), North West (40), North Central (39), North East (20), Saskatoon (88), Central West (7), Central East (14), Regina (47), South West (1), South Central (4) and South East (14) zones. There are also 12 new cases with pending residence information. 

Three of the new cases in the South East are in Estevan's subzone, South East 4. There are now 34 active cases of COVID-19 in the Estevan area. This represents a significant jump, as on Christmas Eve there were a total of two. 

Yesterday there were 3,147 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan. The province also administered a reduced number of vaccines with 1448. There have been 31,275 doses of the two vaccines administered now, or 96 percent of the doses the province has been allocated.