Sask. reports 33 new COVID-19 deaths, more Omicron BA.2 cases in weekly report
CBC
Saskatchewan reported 33 new deaths COVID-19-related deaths in its weekly release Thursday, which details data from March 13 to 19.
Of the 33 deaths, 67 per cent were people aged 80 or older. One person was aged 20 to 39.
There have been a total of 1,211 COVID-related deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the report, which means there have been almost 200 since Saskatchewan stopped reporting data daily on Feb. 6.
The province also reported 306 total people in hospital on Wednesday, six more than the reporting period that ended on Mar. 16.
On Wednesday, there were 19 people in the adult intensive care unit that tested positive for COVID-19.
As of Saturday, the province found 29.7 in every 1,000 visits to the emergency department were for COVID-19 related illness. This is higher than last week's report of 27.1, but lower than the weekly average (38.1 per week per 1,000 visits) according to the report.
Since the vaccine became available to children aged five to 11 in November 2021, about 56 per cent of Saskatchewan children in that range have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. About two in five (39 per cent) have received two doses.
Beyond that, as of Saturday, nearly 86 per cent of people aged five and older had received one shot of a two-dose vaccine and 80.5 per cent had completed a series.
The Omicron BA.2 subvariant accounted for more than one-quarter of all variants of concerns found this week (25.9 per cent), up from the previous reporting week (5.4 per cent).
However PCR testing, which can screen for variants of concern, is limited in the province.
The subvariant is expected to be more transmissible than the dominant Omicron subvariant, BA.1.
This First Person column is the experience of Shannon Flaman, who lives in Red Deer, Alta. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
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