The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations and the test-positivity rate saw some improvement in Thursday's weekly update from the province, but the number of deaths related to the disease fell considerably.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority reported 13 new COVID-19 deaths for the week ending March 5. This was a 70.5-per-cent decrease from the 44 recorded the previous week.

The percentage of lab tests that came up positive dropped from 13.6 to 12.7 per cent.

Data for the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 was for the week ending Wednesday, March 9. The week saw a decrease of 14, from 353 to 339.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19-related illness dropped by nine to 142. Hospitalizations for incidental COVID-19 infections rose by three to 186.

The average number of daily COVID-19 admissions decreased from 27.3 to 23.6 in a week-to-week comparison.

The five-or-older population has a full-vaccination rate of 80.4 per cent. Of everyone 18 or older, 50.9 per cent have at least one booster dose.