The number of active cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan rose for the second day in a row in the latest update from the provincial government. Other metrics, however, including hospitalizations, continued their downward trend, and vaccines took a large step up. 

In more tragic news, the Saskatchewan Health Authority announced two more patients who tested positive for the virus have died. Both were residents of the North West zone, and both were over the age of 80. 

There were 131 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the province today for a total of 47,097. There were just 102 recoveries reported for a total of 45,240. This leaves 1314 active cases of the virus in Saskatchewan.

Hospitalizations due to the virus dropped to 100. Of those 100, 23 require intensive care including two out-of-province transfers from Manitoba. The seven-day average of daily new cases is 133. 

Today's new cases are located in the following zones: Far North West, 5; Far North East, 11; North West, 14; North Central, 7; North East, 7; Saskatoon, 34; Central West, 2; Central East, 3; Regina, 21; South Central, 12; and South East, 11. There are four other cases with pending residence information. 

Despite a slightly higher number of new cases in the South East, none of the new cases are in Estevan's subzone. Subzone South East 4 (which includes Estevan) saw several recoveries as well, so the number of active cases in the area dropped to 38. In total, there are 92 active cases in the South East. 

Yesterday, the province processed 2,287 COVID-19 tests. They also administered 14,579 doses of COVID-19 vaccine for a total of 754,830. Over 100,000 Saskatchewan residents are now fully vaccinated. 63 percent of those age 12 and over have received their first dose.