Sask. reports 285 new COVID cases, 10 deaths, 187 in hospital

The number of people with COVID-19 in Saskatchewan hospitals has fallen to a five-month low.

According to the weekly update issued by the Ministry of Health, there were 187 people with COVID in the province’s health-care facilities as of Wednesday. That number comprised 56 patients with COVID-related illnesses, 118 incidental infections and 13 cases that were under investigation.

The total hasn’t been that low since Jan. 17, when it was 167. The last time the total was under 200 was Jan. 19, when it was 199.

There were 10 people with COVID in Saskatchewan’s intensive care units as of Wednesday, up from six the week before.

The ministry also reported 285 new cases were detected through laboratory testing between May 29 and Saturday. There also were 10 deaths reported during that seven-day span.

A look at the numbers

The new cases were reported in the Saskatoon (78), Regina (55), central-east (29), southeast (28), northwest (24), north-central (13), far northeast (nine), south-central (nine), far northwest (eight), central-west (eight), northeast (six), southwest (five) and far north-central (one) zones.

The hometowns of 12 cases were pending.

The total doesn’t include cases that were detected by rapid antigen testing.

There were 5,888 lab tests done during the week in Saskatchewan, resulting in a test positivity rate of 4.6 per cent. That was down from 5.3 per cent the previous week.

There were 122 new lineage results reported during the week, all of which were Omicron. The more transmissible BA.2 sublineage accounted for 97.5 per cent of the variants of concern found during the seven-day period.

Seven deaths were reported during the week. Three happened earlier, but were only reported between May 29 and Saturday.

Five of the deaths were reported were in the Regina region, with two in the Saskatoon area and one in each of the central-west and central-east zones.

Eight of those who passed away were in the 80-and-older age group, while the other two were in their 60s.

To date, 1,396 Saskatchewan residents have died due to COVID. The majority of those (647) were in the 80-and-over age group, while six were under the age of 19.

The rate of visitors to emergency departments with viral respiratory symptoms dropped from 30 per 1,000 visits in the previous week to 22 per 1,000 visits in this reporting period.

There were eight confirmed COVID outbreaks in long-term care (five) and care home (three) settings during the week, up from three the previous week.

Vaccination update

There were 5,977 COVID shots administered during the week, including 5,419 booster shots.

As of Saturday, 85.9 per cent of those five and over in the province had received at least one dose of a two-dose COVID vaccine series and 81 per cent had received both shots.

Among those 12 and over in the province, 49.2 per cent had received at least one booster, a number that was similar to the previous week. The percentage of those 18 and over who had got at least one booster shot, 52.6, was also the same as the figure reported the week before.