Sask's top doctor not surprised by rise in COVID-19 cases
Saskatchewan’s active cases of COVID-19 have increased by 471 per cent in the past month, fuelled mostly by the Delta variant.
The rapid increase in cases doesn’t require additional restrictions in the province, according to Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer.
"Given how effective vaccines are, if it is a choice between ramping up vaccines, incentivizing getting vaccinated and encouraging mask use, these two things have no economic impact and these are the two things to emphasize right now," Dr. Saqib Shahab said.
The province removed all public health measures on July 11 and saw active cases drop to 242 by July 20, the lowest point since Oct. 13, but active cases have now climbed to 1,381 as of Friday, the most since June.
"We obviously saw a very rapid rise in the U.K., which like us had increasing vaccination rates and in the U..K, they have seen some increase in hospitalizations, so we watched that closely," Dr. Shahab said.
High vaccine uptake in the 40-plus age group has helped slow the increase in hospitalizations for Saskatchewan, but Dr. Shahab said that risk is increasing.
"The more our case numbers go [up], there’s a lower, but still significant, risk of hospitalization," he said. "The more case numbers go up, even fully vaccinated people can then become at high risk, even though, the majority will not get seriously ill."
Saskatchewan started this week with 73 people in hospitals with COVID-19, including nine patients in intensive care. That has since increased to 84 people and 15 in ICU as of Friday.
Dr. Shahab said the majority of hospitalizations are middle aged adults that are unvaccinated.
"We really need to do everything with 12-and-over getting vaccinated in order to keep our case numbers down," Dr. Shahab said.
The province’s top doctor is also recommending residents begin wearing masks again in public places, whether you’re vaccinated or not.
"You're more likely to transmit COVID or be exposed to COVID if you're unvaccinated and get seriously ill, but as we've seen from the U.S. data, that if you're vaccinated, you can still get mildly symptomatic and for a brief duration, still transmit COVID," he said.
"When you're in large public place, when you don't know if everyone's vaccinated, it just makes sense to put the mask on."
Dr. Shahab reiterated that with school starting in a few weeks, residents need to protect themselves with a vaccine dose to ensure those 12-and-under, who are ineligibly for a shot aren’t at risk.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Speaker kicks Poilievre out of Commons over unparliamentary comments
Speaker Greg Fergus kicked Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre out of the House of Commons during question period today.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
Freeland previews omnibus budget bill, proposed capital gains tax change left out
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
Conservatives push motion calling for Carney to testify, say it's about 'accountability'
The federal Conservatives made good on their promise to push for former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney to testify before MPs, resulting in a heated political debate in Ottawa on Tuesday.
McGill requests 'police assistance' over pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University says it has 'requested police assistance' about the pro-Palestinian encampment on its lower field.
London Drugs stores remain closed, 'cybersecurity incident' may have breached personal data
London Drugs says it is working with third-party security experts as the company tries to reopen dozens of stores across Western Canada that were shuttered by a cybersecurity incident Sunday.
Judge raises threat of jail in hush money trial as he holds Trump in contempt, fines him US$9,000
Donald Trump was held in contempt of court Tuesday and fined US$9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case. And if he does it again, the judge warned, he could be jailed.