Saskatchewan reports five more flu-related deaths

Influenza claimed the lives of five Saskatchewan residents over the past two weeks.

According to the Community Respiratory Illness Surveillance Program report issued Friday by the Ministry of Health, four people died due to the flu in the week of Nov. 19-25 and one died in the seven-day period ending last Saturday.

It’s the second straight report in which five flu-related deaths were announced.

The number of lab-confirmed flu cases also climbed over the past two weeks.

The ministry said there were 675 cases detected between Nov. 19 and Nov. 25, and 815 cases confirmed in the week ending Saturday. In the Nov. 12-18 reporting period, 594 cases had been confirmed.

Saskatchewan’s test positivity rate for the flu has risen from 31 per cent in the week of Nov. 12-18 to 32.8 per cent last week.

The ministry splits the province into 13 geographical regions, and all 13 reported test positivity rates that were higher than 17 per cent.

While flu numbers continued to climb, lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases fell.

In the week of Nov. 12-18, the ministry reported 426 cases of coronavirus had been detected. That number fell to 395 in the subsequent week and 308 as of last Saturday.

Three COVID-related deaths were reported over the past two weeks, with one in the 20-to-59 age group and two in the 60-and-over category.

Since the pandemic started, 2,027 Saskatchewan residents have died as a result of COVID.

COVID-19

The test positivity rate for COVID continued its downward trend, falling from 13.9 per cent in the week of Nov. 12-18 to 10.4 per cent in the seven-day period ending Saturday.

Hospitalizations also have dropped.

Last week, there were 73 COVID patients in Saskatchewan hospitals and five people in intensive care. Those numbers were 128 and nine, respectively, two weeks earlier.

According to the report, 16.1 per cent of those over the age of six months in the province have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine since Sept. 18. Among those between the ages of six months and 64 years of age, all of the zones in the province except Saskatoon (12.5 per cent) and Regina (12.3 per cent) have vaccination rates below 10 per cent.

Influenza

Over the past two weeks, there was an increase in test positivity reported across the far north-central, northwest, central, Regina and south regions.

Seven areas — far northwest (33.3 per cent), far north-central (100 per cent), far northeast (59.7 per cent), central-east (35.5 per cent), Regina (37.2 per cent), south-central (33.3 per cent) and southeast (47.5 per cent) — had test positivity rates higher than the provincial average.

There were 140 flu-related hospitalizations in the province last week with 24 ICU admissions. Those numbers were consistent with the week of Nov. 12-18 (138 hospitalizations, 31 ICU admissions).

The ministry said that as of Saturday, 21.2 per cent of Saskatchewan residents had received a flu shot this year. Among those 65 and older, 54.5 per cent had been jabbed, while among those under 65, only 14.3 per cent had received their shot.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus

There were 58 lab-confirmed RSV cases in Saskatchewan last week, up from 28 two weeks earlier. The test positivity rate increased to 2.6 per cent from 1.6 per cent in the week of Nov. 12-18.

RSV-related hospitalizations climbed to 21 for the most recent two weeks from 10 in the two weeks before that.