42 COVID-19 deaths reported in Sask. last week

Saskatchewan reported 42 new COVID-19 deaths over the week of Feb. 6-12, in its second weekly epidemiology update.

Among the deaths, there were nine in Regina, seven in Saskatoon, seven in the Central East zone, six in the North West zone, six in the North Central zone, three in the North East zone, one in the South West zone and three in the South East zone.

The majority of deaths were recorded in the 80-plus age group, with 29. There were also five deaths in the 40 to 59 age group, three in the 60 to 69 age group and five among those aged 70 to 79.

A total of 1,056 Saskatchewan residents have died due to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

The province said there were 410 people in hospital related to COVID-19 as of Feb. 16, including 33 in intensive care units, up from a total of 384 in last week’s report.

Of the 410, 181 were admitted for a COVID-19 related illness, 221 had an incidental COVID-19 infection and another eight haven’t been determined.

There were 2,522 new COVID-19 cases last week, according to the government. Testing is no longer widely available in Saskatchewan and is only available by appointment to those deemed at risk.

A total of 12,079 laboratory tests were performed during the reporting period, which resulted in a test positivity rate of 20.2 per cent.

Saskatoon and Regina had the highest count for new cases, with 603 and 501. Those counts are down from last week’s report, which saw Saskatoon record 1,433 and Regina 1,287.

There were also 242 variants of concern reported from Feb. 6-12, 99.6 per cent were Omicron and 0.4 per cent were Delta.

Monday also saw an end to the vaccine passport system in Saskatchewan, all remaining public health measures will lift Feb. 28.

The province said 79.9 per cent of residents five years and older are fully vaccinated, as of Feb. 12.