Saskatchewan’s weekly COVID report shows 5,401 new cases, 22 deaths

Saskatchewan’s first weekly COVID-19 update showed 5,401 new cases were detected in the province between Jan. 30 and last Saturday.

Of those cases, 1,429 were in the Saskatoon region and 1,284 were in the Regina area.

The province said 17,115 tests were performed by health officials during that week, with 31.1 per cent of those returning a positive result.

According to the government, the rate of new confirmed cases in the province was about two-thirds that of the new case rate in the previous week.

But as of Wednesday, Saskatchewan still had the second-highest rate of cases among the country’s provinces over the previous seven days, at 285 cases per 100,000 people. Prince Edward Island had the highest rate, at 716 per 100,000 people.

Saskatchewan’s rate of active cases — 782 per 100,000 people — was third among the provinces over the past seven days behind only Manitoba (1,403) and P.E.I. (1,214). The national rate was 404 active cases per 100,000 residents.

The data released Thursday in Saskatchewan said 30 new COVID outbreaks in high-risk settings had been reported between Jan. 30 and Saturday.

There were 14 outbreaks reported in long-term care homes and eight each in group homes and personal care homes.

A look at the numbers

Saskatchewan issued its final daily update on Sunday. At that time, there were 332 people in the province’s hospitals, with 31 of those in intensive care.

In Thursday’s update — which included hospitalization data up to and including Wednesday — there were 384 COVID patients in Saskatchewan health-care facilities yesterday. That matched the all-time record set Feb. 3.

The total reported Wednesday included 160 patients with a COVID-related illness, 206 with incidental COVID infections, and 18 cases that were undetermined.

There were 26 people in ICUs.

Between Jan. 30 and Saturday, 63 COVID cases were admitted to hospital (including 10 into ICU) and 22 COVID-related deaths.

According to the government’s data, hospitalization rates in January were 55.0 per 100,000 people for unvaccinated residents, 32.5 per 100,000 residents for those who were fully vaccinated, and 22.7 per 100,000 people for individuals who were fully vaccinated and had a booster shot.

Estimated ICU rates were 13.0 per 100,000 for the unvaccinated, 4.7 per 100,000 in those fully vaccinated, and 2.2 per 100,000 for those fully vaccinated with their first booster dose.

The estimated death rates were 9.7 per 100,000 for the unvaccinated, 2.3 per 100,000 in those who were fully vaccinated, and 4.4 per 100,000 for people who were fully vaccinated and had their first booster.

The government also provided data on comorbidities since the pandemic started. To date, the most prevalent pre-existing conditions among severe cases have been hypertension (51.9 per cent), diabetes (45.3 per cent) and cardiac disease (35.6 per cent).

In terms of vaccinations, as of Saturday, 85.3 per cent of Saskatchewan residents aged five and over had received at least one dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine and 79.6 per cent had received two doses.

Of those aged 18 and over in the province, 49.5 per cent had got at least one booster shot.