Four more people in Saskatchewan have died as a result of COVID-19 bringing the provincial total to 487.

Friday’s update from the government shows the four were someone in their 40’s from the Regina zone, a person in their 60’s from the far Northeast, one in their 60’s from residence pending and a person in their 70’s from the southcentral zone.

There are 264 new cases with 79 of them in Regina and another 63 in Saskatoon.   The 264 new cases combined with 252 recoveries puts the active case count at 2,426

There are 173 people in hospital.  Of those 173, 37 are in intensive care including 23 in Regina.

222 new variants of concern have been identified by screening bringing the provincial total to 6,794.

5,758 vaccines were administered on Thursday with the Saskatoon zone seeing the most at over 1,500

The province says it is scheduled to receive 9,300 doses of Janssen vaccine the week of May 3. This vaccine will primarily be offered in drive-thru vaccination clinics with details available in the coming days.  These are the first Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccines to enter the province.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority has scheduled drive thru and walk in clinics throughout the province starting Saturday, May 1 in support of Saskatchewan’s plan to vaccinate as many residents as possible, as quickly as possible.  For street addresses and hours of operation for these clinics, see www.saskatchewan.ca/drive-thru-vax.  All clinics are available to residents 40 years and older.

* Location and details will be confirmed the week of May 3.  Updates will be provided throughout the week.