Saskatoon overtakes Regina in new daily COVID-19 case total

Province sends more vaccines to Saskatoon WATCH: CTV's Miriam Valdes-Carletti reports on the province's response to surging cases in Saskatoon.

Saskatoon — For the first time since variant cases began soaring in Regina last month, the Saskatoon area had the highest number of new daily cases.

According to the province's daily COVID-19 update on Tuesday, the Saskatoon area had 70 new reported cases, more than double the number in Regina: 30.

As of Tuesday, there were 483 active cases in the Saskatoon area. Regina had 839.

The province does not share what proportion of the cases are resulting from variant strains.

During a recent round of testing, University of Saskatchewan researchers who track the virus using samples from Saskatoon's wastewater found 86 percent of the viral remnants they identified were from the B.1.1.7 variant of concern.

Regina's surge in cases and the resulting influx of patients which led to record-high ICU admissions is largely attributed to the B.1.1.7 variant.

In Tuesday's update, there was a cumulative total of 687 variant cases in Saskatoon and 3,513 in Regina.

The reported number of cumulative variant cases has more than doubled in the Saskatoon area over the past 14 days. According to the April 14 update, there were 328 variant cases.

The province does not specify how many of the variant cases are considered active in its public reporting.

Regina is currently under a stricter set of public health rules brought in last month in the wake of the variant surge.

Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said Saskatoon is "on red alert" following the rise in cases, but stopped short of saying there should be increased public health measures.

"If required, specific measures may be needed. But at the end of the day you know it is our individual actions, especially when we're out and about, minimize unnecessary visits to public indoor places, order more takeout. Use curbside pickup whenever you can," Shahab said during a news conference held in Regina on Tuesday.