Another rise in the already record number of hospitalizations for patients with a positive case of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan.

Tuesday’s dashboard reading from the provincial government website showed seven additional hospitalizations for a total of 370. However, the I-C-U number dropped by three to 39. The key daily data saw 661 new cases of the novel coronavirus along with 1,503 recoveries and one new COVID-19-related death, leaving 11,370 active cases of the virus in the province.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health says 15 million rapid antigen COVID-19 tests have been distributed in Saskatchewan with another four million more to arrive this month. Free rapid antigen tests are available at about 600 locations, province-wide. Of the 15 million distributed thus far, seven million have gone to public distribution centres, two million to schools and one-and-a-half million to Indigenous Services Canada and the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority.

Elsewhere, the weekly update from the Ministry of Health indicated a busy week of January 24 for the provincial COVID enforcement team. The issued a 14-thousand dollar fine to the Prairie Pride Motel Bar and Grill in Maple Creek for failure to check for proof of vaccination or a negative test in the restaurant. Plus, nine individuals were fined 2,800 dollars for failure to mask in public.

As well, 49 per cent of eligible Saskatchewan residents aged 18-and-over have now received their booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Eighty-five per cent of people 12 years and older and 79 per cent of provincial folks five years and older are considered fully vaccinated.

Saskatchewan has now distributed more than 15 million rapid antigen tests.  This includes more than seven million to public distribution centres around the province, two million to schools and 1.5 million to Indigenous Services Canada and the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority.

Currently, there are four million tests scheduled to arrive in the province in February.

Free rapid antigen tests are available at approximately 600 locations around the province at this time.  All residents should be self-monitoring, self-testing and self-managing to help prevent transmission, given the transmissibility of the Omicron variant.

Public Health Orders Will Be Enforced

For the week of January 24, the provincial COVID enforcement team issued a number of summary office tickets for failure to abide by the current public health orders:

• Prairie Pride Motel Bar and Grill, Maple Creek received a $14,000 fine for failure to check for proof of vaccination or a negative test (restaurant)
• Nine individual fines of $2,800 for failure to mask were issued to individuals in Estevan (two), Grenfell, Fort Qu’Appelle, Maple Creek (two), Leader, Wynyard and Hudson Bay.

Note that under The Health Information and Privacy Act, the Ministry of Health cannot disclose the names of individuals who have received fines.

COVID-19 Summary for February 1, 2022:

• From January 26 – February 1, 11,689 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of primary series vaccines administered in the province to 1,859,978.
• An additional 18,360 third and fourth doses have been administered in the province from January 26 – February 1, bringing the total number of vaccines including boosters administered in the province to 2,325,135.  Forty-nine per cent of eligible residents age 18+ have now received their booster dose.
• As of February 1, 89 per cent of residents 12 years and older and 85 per cent of residents five years older have received their first dose.  Eighty-five per cent of residents 12 years and older and 79 per cent of residents five years and older are fully vaccinated.
• There were 7,736 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan from January 26 – February 1, bringing the provincial total to 119,272 cases.  There were 9,091 recoveries recorded during the same period.
• The Government of Saskatchewan continues to monitor case trends in the province, noting the new case rate decreased from 104.5/100,000 for the week ending January 24 to 91.7/100,000 for the week ending January 31.
• The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan is currently 1,105 (91.7/100,000).
• Sixteen new deaths were reported January 26 – February 1.
• There were 170 new lineage results reported for January 26 – February 1.
• As of February 1, 370 individuals are hospitalized including 331 inpatient hospitalizations and 39 ICU hospitalizations. Of the 370 patients, 114 (30.8 per cent) were not fully vaccinated
• Since October 25, 146 monoclonal antibody infusion treatments have been delivered.
• Since January 26, 14 Paxlovid treatment courses have been dispensed.
• From January 26 – February 1, there were 22,579 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan.

Highlights