Ten thousand. That’s the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases Saskatchewan reached over the weekend. That’s enough to fill the Brandt Centre nearly twice.  

Saskatchewan reported 415 new cases of COVID–19 on Sunday, pushing the total number of cases over the 10K mark at 10,139.  

The province said in a press release yesterday that the spike in numbers is due to a data reporting issue which has now been resolved in Saskatoon.  

Saskatoon still maintains the highest number of active cases at 1,476.  

While cases continue to rise province wide, the daily average of new cases has now reached 272, hospitalization numbers are also on the rise.  

Right now, 135 people are in hospitals in Saskatchewan due to COVID-19. In Regina, 18 people are receiving in-patient care while nine are in intensive care. To date, there have been 59 deaths related to COVID-19 in the province. 

Carla Culling, a clinical resource nurse for the Regina General Hospital said you can feel the anxiety in the hospital.  

“The biggest thing is the unknown,” said Culling. 

Our numbers keep increasing, including hospitalizations and our ICU (intensive care unit) bed numbers are going up so it’s made a lot of the hospital’s anxiety increase.” 

With the increase of hospitalizations, Culling said there is also a greater emphasis on resources.   

“Hospitals now ensure that we have enough PPE (personal protective equipment) and that staff are trained properly,” said Culling. 

She said the critical incident stress management tool available for units with COVID-19 positive patients allows for staff to look after their emotional well-being.  

This resource is intended for nurses to seek help when they have experienced a traumatic event or critical incident and a team will support their recovery efforts.  

Despite rising COVID-19 numbers, it is not all bad news. The Government of Saskatchewan said it expects to receive approximately 180,000 doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine in the first quarter of 2021 from companies Pfizer and Moderna.  

Culling said this is something that will make a world of a difference in the hospital.  

“From what I’m hearing, it is going to prioritize those over 70 which a lot of our patients that are coming in the hospital are in that age group,” said Culling. 

With front line health care workers, that is going to take away a lot of anxiety. We want to protect ourselves; we want to protect our families and we want to protect our patients so I think just knowing that it is coming, it will make a world of a difference for many people.” 

In a tweet on Thursday, Premier Scott Moe said there will be a detailed vaccine plan coming next week.  

“Saskatchewan people can be assured that we will be ready to go as soon as a vaccine is ready,” said Moe.