COVID cases, hospitalizations increased in Sask. in past month

COVID-19 cases are climbing in Saskatchewan.

In an epidemiological report for the period from Aug. 14 to last Saturday, the Saskatchewan government said the test positivity rate for the province stood at 8.9 per cent, up from 7.4 per cent in the previous month.

The rate was the highest in the far northwest (14.4 per cent) and central-west (13.1 per cent) regions.

Testing detected 1,932 positive cases during that period, for an average of 483 per week. That total was up from the 1,524 positive results (381 per week) announced in the report for July 17 to Aug. 13.

In the most-recent reporting period, hospital admissions rose from 556 to 594 and ICU admissions climbed from 30 to 38.

There were 25 deaths due to COVID reported over the past four weeks, down from 27 in the previous reporting period.

More than 1,500 people in the province now have died as a result of the virus.

The number of outbreaks announced in high-risk settings fell from 46 in the previous report to 41 in this one.

The BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages of the Omicron strain remain the dominant sublineages in Saskatchewan. Testing found 92.5 per cent of cases were the BA.5 sublineages, while 5.8 per cent were BA.4.

With eligibility for the Moderna bivalent vaccine set to expand Monday, the province continued to urge people to get booster shots. Currently, about 45 per cent of Saskatchewan’s population has received at least three doses of a vaccine.

On Aug. 15, everyone 18 and over became eligible for a second booster dose, as long as four months had passed since their third dose. On Aug. 31, kids between the ages of five and 11 became eligible for a booster shot.