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The number of people with COVID-19 in Saskatchewan hospitals and the number of new cases in the province both decreased over the latest reporting period.
According to the weekly epidemiological report issued by the Ministry of Health on Thursday, there were 390 people with COVID in Saskatchewan health-care facilities as of Wednesday. That was down from the 409 reported last Thursday.
There also were 20 people in intensive care, the same figure as the previous week.
The total reported Thursday included 135 COVID-related illnesses, 237 incidental infections and 18 cases that were being investigated.
There were 766 new cases reported during the week from April 24 to Saturday, a decrease from 829 the previous week.
The latest new cases were reported in the Saskatoon (268), Regina (145), central-east (75), northwest (53), southeast (50), north-central (39), south-central (32), southwest (24), central-west (14), far northwest (12), northeast (10) and far northeast (five) zones. There were 39 cases whose hometown wasn’t known.
The new cases were detected in laboratory tests. The ministry’s number doesn’t include cases detected by rapid antigen tests.
The 7,337 laboratory tests performed in Saskatchewan during the week returned a test positivity rate of 10.1 per cent. The Saskatoon region had the highest rate among the zones at 14.5 per cent.
There were 572 new lineage results reported, all of which were Omicron. Of those, 83.4 per cent were the BA.2 sublineage.
There were 14 COVID-related deaths reported, the same number as the previous week. The government said 10 of those deaths were reported during the week, while four occurred between Feb. 20 and April 18 but were only just reported.
Of the new deaths, five were in the Saskatoon zone, two were in each of the Regina, central-east and south-central regions, and one was in each of the northwest, north-central and southeast regions.
Five of the deaths were in the 80-and-over age group, four people were in their 60s, three were in their 70s, one was between the ages of 20 and 39, and one was in the 40-to-59 age range.
As of Saturday, 1,324 Saskatchewan residents had died due to COVID. Of those, 608 were aged 80 and over and 293 were in their 70s.
There were 17 confirmed outbreaks in long-term care (10) and care home (seven) settings during the week.
Vaccination update
The ministry said 25,103 COVID shots were administered during the week, including 24,379 booster shots.
Among people 18 and over in Saskatchewan, 52.0 per cent had received at least one booster, an increase of just 0.2 per cent from the previous week.
The government issued a reminder that everyone 12 and over in the province can receive a third dose (their first booster) provided four months have elapsed since their second shot. Everyone 50 and over is eligible to get a second booster four months after their last dose.
