In the April 21 COVID-19 update from The Saskatchewan Health Authority they are reporting a total of 231 new cases of the virus in the province.

Of those 231 new cases there are 12 in the Far North West zone, 8 in the North West zone, 4 in the North Central zone, 1 in the North East zone, 68 in the Saskatoon zone, 1 in the Central West zone, 19 in the Central East zone, and 75 in the Regina zone.

There are currently 8 new cases in the South West zone, 5 in the South Central zone, and 21 in the South East zone.

There are 9 cases with pending residence information.

Seven cases with pending residence information have been assigned as follows - 1 to the North Central zone, 1 to the Central East zone, and 5 to the Regina zone.

One case not previously reported was added to the Saskatoon zone total.

That brings the provincial total number of cases to 38,883, of which 2,551 are considered active.

There are currently 107 active cases in the South West zone - 65 in the South West subzone 1, and 42 in the South West subzone 2.

There are 4 new deaths to report. All four deaths were reported in the Regina zone - 1 in the 30-39 age group, 1 in the 40-49 age group, 1 in the 70-79 age group, and 1 in the 80+ age group.

That brings the provincial total number of deaths to 469.

There are 317 recoveries reported, bringing that provincial total to 35,863.

There are 185 people in the hospital. One hundred and thirty-six people are receiving inpatient care - 1 in the Far North East zone, 2 in the North West zone, 7 in the North Central zone, 1 in the North East zone, 47 in the Saskatoon zone, 1 in the Central West zone, 8 in the Central East zone, and 56 in the Regina zone.

There is 1 person receiving inpatient care in the South West zone, 4 in the South Central zone, and 8 in the South East zone.

There are 49 people in intensive care - 2 in the North Central zone, 8 in the Saskatoon zone, 4 in the Central East zone, 34 in the Regina zone, and 1 in the South Central zone.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases is 253 (20.7 new cases per 100,000 population).

To date, there has been  737,572 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan.

And yesterday, there were 2,740 COVID-19 tests processed.

As of April 20, there were 5,302 variants of concern identified by screening in the province - 45 in the far North West zone, 2 in the Far North East zone, 103 in the North West zone, 63 in the North Central zone, 6 in the North East zone, 543 in the Saskatoon zone, 73 in the Central West zone, 197 in the Central East zone, and 3,118 in the Regina zone.

There are 123 variant of concern cases in the South West zone, 417 in the South Central zone, and 542 in the South East zone.

There are 70 cases with residence pending.

There are 0 new lineage results reported. Of the 2,060 variant of concern cases with lineage identified by whole genome sequencing, 2,046 are B.1.1.1.7 (UK), 9 are B.1.351 (SA), and 5 are P.1.(Brazilian).

The Regina zone accounts for 1,474 (or 72%) of the variant of concern cases with confirmed lineage reported.

Residents are asked to avoid all unnecessary travel throughout the province at this time, and travel is also not recommended in or out of the Regina area unless absolutely necessary.

An additional 7,554 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, brining the total number of vaccines administered to 365,001.

Of those 7,554 vaccine doses there were 408 administered in the South West zone.

Fifty-two percent of residents age 40+ have received their first dose.

Effective at 8 a.m. on Thursday April 22 eligibility in the provincial age-based immunization program moves to age 44, except for the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District, where it remains age 40 and older. This applies to all immunization clinics: booked appointments, drive-thru/walk-in, and mobile.

All current Public Health Measures have been extended to May 10, at which time they will be reviewed.