The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) along with Chief Medical Health Officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, and Emergency Operations Commander, Derek Miller held a press conference Thursday to update residents on the state of the pandemic in the province.

According to Dr. Shahab, although Regina and the surrounding communities have been essentially locked down, Moose Jaw and Weyburn are beginning to become a concern.

"We are seeing a bit of an increase in new cases, as well as new cases that are variants of concern in Weyburn and Moose Jaw. If we see lots of cases, either variants of concern or otherwise that are not linked to one another, that speaks to uncontrolled community transmission. If we start to see that in any community, unfortunately, we would have to think of further progressive measures."

Dr. Shahab and CEO of the SHA, Scott Livingstone, both emphasized diligence for residents in the two communities, pleading residents to keep their number of contacts at a minimum.

Livingstone went on to say that they have noticed a trend as well in Regina, where more and more of the ICU admissions are younger residents, and that of the 35 ICU admissions in Regina over the last month, only one was over the age of 70.

There are currently 56 active cases in the south-central region, with 51 of those located in the sub-region 'south-central 2', which is made up of Moose Jaw and the surrounding area.

There was some good news however, as it sounds like Moose Jaw's drive-thru vaccine clinic could be up and running at some point in the next two weeks.

Emergency Operations Commander, Derek Miller, gave more details.

"The drive-thru clinics that we are planning now are mainly coming online in early April, although depending on vaccine supply, it could be by the end of this month. Many of the sites are more seasonal and will be set up in parking lots with tentage or other kinds of semi-permanent structures."

As for the upcoming Easter holiday, residents in Regina and the surrounding locked-down communities were urged not to travel to other cities to gather with loved ones. As for the rest of the province, specifically in Moose Jaw and Weyburn, residents are urged to gather with as small of a group as possible and to keep all public health orders and guidelines in mind.