Young adults express concerns as COVID variant cases soar in Regina area

With more young people getting sick with COVID-19 in the province, many are left wondering what’s going wrong.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority’s chief medical officer, Susan Shaw, says the variants of concern are starting to complicate things.

“Five of the last 10 people admitted to the General Hospital (ICU) in Regina were under 40 years old. That is not what we saw in the fall at all,” Shaw said.

The COVID variants, more specifically the United Kingdom variant, also known as B.1.1.7, is more contagious and more deadly than the typical COVID strain, according to the Canadian Public Health Agency.

Regina is starting to set records, and a lot of that is because of the surging U.K. variant in the community. On Friday, the Regina region set an all-time high of 70 hospitalizations due to COVID, while also matching its single-day high with 16 patients in intensive care.

Cases of variants have also been more prevalent in Regina than anywhere else in the province. As of Thursday, 973 variant cases have been in the Queen City. The province as a whole has seen 1,155 cases involving a variant.

These numbers show the risks in Regina are certainly amplified, with the city seeing more than 1,078 new cases compared to the Saskatoon area in the past month.

“Younger people are generally interacting and mixing more, which means there’s more opportunity for this virus to spread,” Shaw said. “This is a really big risk, not just for the health-care system, but it’s a risk for anyone living in the province.”

The idea of younger people feeling invincible when it comes to COVID isn’t new but that feeling might be starting to change, according to 21-year-old Anna Mamais.

“I keep seeing people our age partying, I feel like for those of us that are following the rules, it’s getting very tiring,” Mamais said. “I think a lot of people our age are thinking nothing’s going to happen to them. Even if they get it, it will just be like the flu.

“It could be an eye-opening thing for some people to hear of all these younger people in ICUs.”

Mamais says the thought of returning to previous measures is exhausting, but they’re in place for a reason.

“I’m sure we’re all sick of it at this point, but we need to just continue to power through it,” she said. “Hopefully things start to tone down.

“I’m hoping that Saskatoon doesn’t start getting variant cases like we have here and I’m hoping that everyone kind of starts to realize how serious this really is.”

Brooke Pellerin, 21, echoed a similar sentiment, saying the beginning of the pandemic might have pushed some people to believe COVID only targets elderly people.

“In the beginning of COVID in Canada, there was kind of that push that elderly people are very at risk and that it could affect them a lot. I feel that kind of showed younger people that they would be fine and wouldn’t have to worry as much,” Pellerin said. “I think that mindset has caused a lot more people to become lenient.”

Zoe Kourles, 17, says she feels a lot of people her age have the mentality that it would never be them who tested positive.

“I know a lot of people say that they have never seen anybody close to them get sick, but we are starting to see a lot of younger people being hospitalized with no underlying conditions from COVID,” she said.

“We’re all missing out on a lot of stuff, but the more we continue to be careless, the more we are going to be dealing with the effects for a long time.

“I know a lot of people keep going to big gatherings just because they miss them so much. They can’t take a break from it almost.”

In an attempt to get the rising cases in Regina under control, old restrictions on bars, restaurants, movie theatres and other facilities are going back into place on Sunday.