Five more with COVID-19 in Saskatchewan die; province reports 124 new cases and the seven-day average drops to its lowest point in 2021.
Under a new directive aimed at concern over more contagious COVID-19 variants, Saskatchewan people with coronavirus symptoms are advised to get tested immediately.
The province issued new rules for testing that replace the previous advice to wait 48 hours after symptoms emerge to get tested, to reduce the risk of false negatives.
The change is a response to concerns about more contagious variants, such as those first identified in the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa.
Dr. Nazeem Muhajarine, a professor and chair of community health and epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan, called the testing change “long overdue” in a Wednesday interview.
“Taking that approach to testing is probably the way to go right now,” he said.
A provincial news release cited recent advice from the European Centre for Disease Control.
People who continue to experience symptoms despite a negative test result are urged to get retested
The number of tests processed remained low for the second straight day at 1,800, among the lowest daily test counts in 2021.
The province also announced Wednesday that five more Saskatchewan people diagnosed with COVID-19 have died, including one aged 30 to 39 from the Saskatoon zone.
A person aged 50 to 59 from the Regina zone was among the five who died, as were three people aged 80 or over from the Saskatoon, Regina and north west zones.
The province reported the new deaths, which brings the total to 362, along with 124 new cases — the fifth straight day of declining daily case numbers. Only once in the last 10 days has the daily new case number topped 200.
Active cases declined to 1,541, the lowest in more than three months; Wednesday’s 189 recoveries continued a trend of recovered cases outnumbering new ones.
The Regina zone led the new cases with 48, while just nine new cases were recorded in the Saskatoon zone.
The province’s seven-day average of new daily cases dropped to 160, the lowest so far in 2021. Despite the lower numbers, the province announced on Tuesday that pandemic restrictions will be extended four weeks to March 19.
The Saskatoon zone still leads active cases with 413, but that’s the lowest number since Jan. 6. The Regina zone ranked second, but dropped to 340 actives, the lowest in three months.
The third-ranked north west zone (Lloydminster, North Battleford) dipped to 175 actives cases, the lowest in nearly three months.
The new cases pushed Saskatchewan’s total to 26,953, including 25,050 recoveries. The province now has the third highest per capita number of COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Canada, according to information compiled by the federal government.
Saskatchewan had recorded 2,276 cases per 100,000 people as of Tuesday, behind only Quebec (3,244) and Alberta (2,925).
Saskatchewan also maintained the national lead in active cases per 100,000 at 137, but the gap between other provinces and the national rate of 94 has narrowed. Manitoba (118), British Columbia (116) and Alberta (113) ranked behind Saskatchewan.
Despite dropping daily counts, Saskatchewan also continued to lead the nation in new cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days. Saskatchewan dropped to 100 on Tuesday, compared to a national rate of 55.
The number of Saskatchewan residents in hospital after a COVID-19 diagnosis dipped to 178, the lowest in three weeks, including 23 receiving intensive care.
Only 271 vaccine doses were injected on Tuesday, although 12,780 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were expected imminently. A total of 50,326 doses have been injected, including 14,013 second doses.
The province’s Wednesday news release included a reminder that the vaccination program remains in Phase 1, targeting people aged 70 and older, health-care workers and some other groups.
Registration for the second phase will not be available until that phase officially begins, so the province is asking people not to phone the 811 health line to register for vaccines.
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