Latest COVID update Dec. 31: Record-high 735 cases reported

Saskatchewan has recorded its highest single-day total of COVID-19 cases.

The Ministry of Health reported Friday there were 735 new cases, breaking the previous record of 601.

There also were 74 recoveries announced, but there weren’t any deaths reported. That left the active case count at 2,844, the highest it has been since it was 2,963 on Oct. 24.

While case numbers rose, hospitalizations stayed steady at 79 from Thursday’s update. There were 12 people in intensive care, the fewest since there also were 12 on Aug. 22.

The provincial government has said it will be concentrating on hospitalizations and ICU admissions instead of case numbers to measure its progress against the virus.

“As both Dr. (Saqib) Shahab and I stated yesterday, we can continue to expect higher case numbers due to the contagiousness of the Omicron variant, but the more important numbers we are tracking are hospitalizations and ICU admissions,” Premier Scott Moe said in a statement.

“Today, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has remained the same and ICU admissions continued to decline, now at 12. Both hospitalizations and ICU admissions are at their lowest levels since August.”

The ministry also said there were another 300 probable cases of Omicron detected by screening, increasing that number to date to 1,355. There also have been 117 cases of the new variant confirmed in Saskatchewan.

No one has been hospitalized due to Omicron, but one individual who was admitted for another reason since has tested positive for the variant.

A look at the numbers

The new cases were reported in the Saskatoon (286), Regina (180), southeast (58), central-east (50), south-central (47), north-central (23), central-west (21), northwest (19), far northwest (nine), northeast (seven) and southwest (four) zones.

There also were 31 cases whose hometowns are still being determined.

The cases in the Saskatoon region were detected in 882 tests, while the Regina total was found in 542 tests.

The total number of new cases included 527 people who weren’t vaccinated, with 110 of those individuals in the 20-to-29 age group, 108 in the 30-to-39 age group and 89 under the age of 12.

There also were 203 fully vaccinated people and five partially vaccinated individuals among the new cases.

The seven-day average of new cases climbed to 333, a 194 per cent increase over the past week. The average hasn’t been that high since it was 340 on Oct. 17.

Seven Saskatchewan residents who tested positive outside the province were added to the Saskatchewan total, which now stands at 85,188.

There were 1,644 doses of COVID vaccine administered in the province, comprising 608 first shots and 1,036 second shots.

To date, 1,800,002 doses have been delivered, with 857,368 of them second shots.