In the October 18 COVID-19 update from The Saskatchewan Health Authority they are reporting a total of 279 new confirmed cases of the virus in the province.

Of those 279 new cases there are 3 in the Far North West zone, 15 in the Far North East zone, 17 in the North West zone, 30 in the North Central zone, 5 in the North East zone, 69 in the Saskatoon zone, 6 in the Central West zone, 32 in the Central East zone, 50 in the Regina zone, 12 in the South Central zone, and 12 in the South East zone.

There are 19 new confirmed cases in the South West zone - 7 in the South West subzone 1, and  12 in the South West subzone 2.

There are 9 new cases with pending residence information.

Thirty cases with pending residence information have been reassigned as follows - 5 to the Far North East zone, 11 to the North West zone, 3 to the North Central zone, 1 to the North East zone, 1 to the Central East zone, 6 to the Regina zone, 1 to the South Central zone, and 2 to the South East zone.

Over a quarter (27.6%) of new cases are in the 20 to 39 age category.

More than 1 in 5 (23.7%) of new cases eligible for vaccination (aged 12 years and older) were fully vaccinated.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases is 319 (26.5 new cases per 100,000 population).

That brings the provincial total number of cases to 74,673, of which 3,670 are considered active.

There are 115 active cases in the South West zone - 44 in the South West subzone 1, and 71 in the South West subzone 2.

The Chinook School Division has reported that there were 2 COVID-19 cases reported on Friday - 1 at the Hodgeville School, and 1 at the Fairview School in Swift Current. On Saturday there was 1 new COVID-19 case reported - at the Fairview School in Swift Current. And on Sunday there were 4 new COVID-19 cases reported at the Hodgeville School. All students at the Fairview School and The Hodgeville School are being moved to remote learning.

There are 572 recoveries reported, 34 of which are in the South West zone, bringing the provincial total number of recoveries to 70,218.

There are 4 new deaths reported, bringing that provincial total to 785.

There are 335 people in the hospital - 250 receiving inpatient care, and 85 in intensive care.

Of those 335 patients, 254 (75.8%) were not fully vaccinated.

Today the Saskatchewan Health Authority will be transporting 1 patient to Ontario to receive intensive care service due to capacity challenges that are compromising the quality and availability of critical care for all Saskatchewan residents.

Up to 6 transfers total are expected by the end of the day Wednesday, with a longer term assessment of out-of-province support beyond Wednesday being finalized.

To date, 1,194,988 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.

And yesterday there were 2,679 COVID-19 tests processed.

Of the 13,199 variants of concern cases identified by whole genome sequencing in the province, 7,123 are Alpha (B.1.1.7), 10 are Beta (B.1.351), 484 are Gamma (P.1), and 5,582 are Delta (B.1.617.2).

There were 2,100 COVID-19 vaccinations given yesterday, 82 of those in the South West zone.

That brings the provincial total number of vaccinations to 1,626,382.

There are now 768,183 Saskatchewan residents who are fully vaccinated.