Two-week report shows 41 COVID deaths in Sask.; school absenteeism at 15%

Illness kept 15 per cent of Saskatchewan students home from school in the week ending Dec. 3.

According to the bi-weekly Community Respiratory Illness Surveillance Program report issued Thursday, school illness absenteeism was highest in the Estevan-Weyburn area (20.1 per cent). The rate was 15.8 per cent in Saskatoon and 15.2 per cent in Regina.

The report also said that between Nov. 20 and last Saturday, 41 Saskatchewan residents died of COVID-19 — 40 aged 60 and over and one between the ages of 20 and 59.

There weren’t any deaths due to influenza over the two-week reporting period.

COVID-19

Test positivity in the province fell from 7.2 per cent in the week ending Nov. 19 to 6.6 per cent in the week ending last Saturday.

There were 418 COVID cases in Saskatchewan in the week of Nov. 20-26, and 396 in the subsequent seven days.

Hospital admissions due to the virus fell from 155 two weeks ago to 117 in the week that ended Saturday. There were eight COVID patients in intensive care in Saskatchewan as of Saturday, down from 16 the week before.

According to the report, 45 per cent of Saskatchewan residents aged 50 and up have had more than one COVID booster dose. Of those aged five and over, 20 per cent have received their latest booster dose in the last six months.

Influenza

The number of flu cases in Saskatchewan rose from 635 three weeks ago to 699 in the week ending Nov. 26, then dropped to 547 in the week that ended Saturday.

However, influenza remains the respiratory virus with the highest positivity rate at 25.5 per cent. That rate is 71.7 per cent in Melfort and area.

There were 113 hospitalizations in Saskatchewan due to the flu two weeks ago (including 10 ICU admissions) and 86 last week (with nine in ICU). Influenza outbreaks in high-risk settings rose from three two weeks ago to 13 last week.

So far, only 22 per cent of Saskatchewan residents have received a flu shot. That’s up three per cent from the previous reporting period, but it’s down 13 per cent from the same time last year.

RSV

Respiratory syncytial virus cases are climbing in the province.

In the week ending Nov. 19, there were 29 cases. That rose to 43 in the week ending Nov. 26, and to 67 in the week that ended last Saturday. The test positivity rate has risen to 3.9 per cent.

RSV hospitalizations have gone from eight three weeks ago to 23 last week — all of them children under the age of 19. There were five RSV patients in ICU as of last Saturday.