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Saskatchewan has recorded 676 cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant over the past five days.
In its first daily update since Thursday, the Ministry of Health said 824 cases of the new variant have been detected to date in the province. On Thursday, that number stood at 148.
The total included 66 confirmed cases and 758 probable cases. Every zone in the province except for the far north-central region has at least one Omicron case.
According to the government, 39.8 per cent of the cases of the variant are in the Saskatoon zone, 27.3 per cent are in the Regina zone and 32.9 per cent are spread across the remaining zones.
“Omicron symptoms are presenting more cold-like than previous COVID-19 variants: runny nose, sore throat, sneezing and fatigue,” the ministry said in a media release. “Do not assume your symptoms are the common cold. If you find yourself with any cold or flu-like symptoms, self-isolate at home and use the COVID-19 testing options available to you.”
Saskatchewan didn’t report numbers for four days — Friday through Monday — due to the Christmas holidays. It also is to go three days — Saturday through Monday — without reports because of New Year’s Day.
Since Thursday, the province has recorded 896 cases of COVID. The single-day case counts in that time frame were 205 on Friday, 241 on Saturday, 151 on Sunday, 137 on Monday and 162 on Tuesday.
But while case numbers climbed, hospitalizations due to COVID dropped to 80 — their lowest level since Aug. 17, when Saskatchewan had 79 COVID patients in its hospitals.
The number of cases in intensive care fell to 16, the fewest since there were 14 ICU patients on Aug. 24.
The government said none of the hospitalizations had the Omicron variant.
The latest report also included two deaths, both in the 60-to-79 age group. One person was from the north-central zone and the other was a resident of the southeast region.
To date, 947 Saskatchewan residents have died due to COVID.
The government also announced Tuesday that Premier Scott Moe and Health Minister Paul Merriman are to provide a COVID update on Thursday at 11 a.m. They’re to announce changes related to testing and isolation, and to “provide an update on key indicators relating to case numbers including hospitalizations.”
A look at the numbers
The latest cases were reported in the Saskatoon (262), Regina (229), central-east (75), south-central (63), southeast (56), northwest (44), north-central (37), southwest (21), central-west (20), northeast (15), northeast (four) and far northwest (two) zones. The hometowns of 68 new cases are pending.
The seven-day average of new cases went from 90 on Thursday to 173 on Tuesday.
As well, 23 Saskatchewan residents who tested positive outside the province were added to the Saskatchewan total. It now stands at 83,558.
To date, there have been 81,183 recoveries. The active case count rose Tuesday to 1,438; it was 789 on Thursday.
Vaccination update
There were 3,913 doses of COVID vaccines given over the past four days, including 1,571 first shots and 2,342 second doses.
To date, 940,997 first doses, 854,685 second doses, 277,705 third doses and 5,583 fourth shots have been given in Saskatchewan.
As of Tuesday, 83 per cent of residents five years of age and older had received their first doses and 76 per cent of residents five and up were fully vaccinated.
The government said 30 per cent of eligible residents aged 18 and over have received a booster.
Public health order violations
The ministry said Saskatchewan Health Authority public health inspectors issued three $2,800 tickets to people in the Lloydminster area for failing to wear a mask.
The names of those fined were not released.