Saskatchewan can now test for the more contagious COVID-19 variants.
The province announced Monday that the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory has been certified to test for COVID-19 variants like those first identified in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.
The Regina-based laboratory will now start testing as many as 192 samples per week for the variants. Another 120 samples a week will continue to be sent to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.
So far, there have been six confirmed and one presumed case of the variants identified in Saskatchewan. But the process of sending samples for testing in Winnipeg took weeks.
The province announced 154 new positive cases and 146 recoveries, so active cases inched up to 1,551.
The total number of diagnosed cases rose to 28,801. The Regina zone led with 53 new cases, followed by the Saskatoon zone with 33.
Actives cases in the Regina zone increased to 497, while actives in the Saskatoon zone stayed pretty static at 292.
No additional deaths related to COVID-19 were announced Monday.
Of the 385 COVID-19 deaths in the province, 81 happened in February — a sharp drop from the 151 deaths in January.
Those diagnosed with COVID-19 in hospital dropped to 151, the lowest since Jan. 1. Twenty-one people were receiving intensive care.
The seven-day average of new daily cases dropped to 143, the lowest since mid-November.
The province processed 1,741 tests on Sunday, the lowest daily total since early January.
There were 356 vaccine doses injected into people’s arms on Sunday. That brings the total doses to 79,289.
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