Experts call for action to address Omicron ahead of Thursday COVID update with Sask. officials

Experts are calling for measures against the spread of Omicron ahead of a government COVID-19 update planned for Thursday morning.

Saskatchewan reported 293 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of active cases to 1,645. There are now 66 confirmed Omicron cases and 956 suspected Omicron cases in the province.

"The numbers are not a surprise at all. It was expected and that's what we are seeing," said Nazeem Muhajarine, professor of community health and epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan's college of medicine.

"We could be at the beginning of an exponential growth."

The provincial government is expected to make a public health announcement on Thursday. A bulletin from the premier's office said Premier Scott Moe and Health Minister Paul Merriman will hold an update at 11 a.m. "to announce changes related to testing and isolation, and provide an update on key indicators relating to case numbers including hospitalizations."

Muhajarine said the recent provincial and federal data reveals a curve with a steep rise, with the seven-day average experiencing an exponential increase. 

He said it is too early to predict whether Saskatchewan will experience surges like Ontario and Quebec, but "Saskatchewan is heading that way, as it doesn't take a lot for Omicron to take over."

"We're probably just looking at the tip of the Omicron iceberg," Dennis Kendel, a health policy advisor, told Saskatoon Morning. 

"There were only 992 tests performed over the previous 24 hours, a test positivity rate of 16.3%. When the test positivity for PCR testing is that high, we know we're missing a lot of cases."

Kendel said that while the provincial government deserves the credit for making rapid antigen tests widely available to the public for free, not many are following up on a positive result which entails getting a formal PCR test done.

"Particularly people in rural communities, they're just not driving in to get the test done. They're very positive but we aren't counting them because they don't get a PCR test," he said. 

Muhajarine agrees that Saskatchewan, like other provinces, is undoubtedly underreporting cases but the degree is unsure — and this is also partly due to lack of PCR test to confirm positive results on rapid tests.

"Our testing regimen is not normal. Our PCR testing regimen is compromised just like in Ontario and Quebec," he said.

"In Saskatchewan, maybe not to that extent, but we are approaching that stage where our PCR testing capacity is being called into question and is compromised."