Latest COVID update Jan. 5: 537 new cases, hospitalizations up to 106

The number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 has again risen above 100.

During a media conference last week, Premier Scott Moe said hospitalizations and intensive care admissions — not new cases — would be the province’s measuring stick going forward.

On Wednesday, there were 106 people with COVID in Saskatchewan hospitals. It was the first time that number was in triple digits since Dec. 20, when it was 102.

The number of hospitalizations was at 79 on Friday.

There were 13 people in ICU as of Wednesday’s report, up two from the day before.

The Ministry of Health also reported 537 new cases — 99 per cent of whom were unvaccinated — and 157 recoveries. There weren’t any deaths announced.

The active case total rose to 4,446, the highest it has been since it was 4,450 on Oct. 12.

According to the government, the number of active cases has risen by more than 600 per cent since Dec. 6, when it was 634.

To date, 242 cases of the Omicron variant have been confirmed in Saskatchewan and 2,245 cases are considered probable.

A look at the numbers

The new cases were reported in the Regina (165), Saskatoon (130), southeast (41), central-east (39), south-central (23), north-central (22), northwest (16), central-west (14), northeast (11), southwest (11), far northwest (nine) and far northeast (four) zones.

The hometowns of 52 cases were still being determined.

The cases in the Regina region were detected in 456 tests, while the Saskatoon region conducted 556 tests.

The government said 531 of the new cases were unvaccinated people. That included 112 people in the 30-to-39 age range and 110 people in their 20s. There also were 45 cases among unvaccinated children under the age of 12.

The record-high seven-day average of new cases climbed to 549, or 45.6 per 100,000.

Four people who tested positive outside Saskatchewan were added to the province’s total, which stood at 87,708.

To date, there have been 82,302 recoveries and 960 COVID-related deaths reported in the province.

There were 1,895 COVID vaccinations done in Saskatchewan, comprising 623 first doses and 1,272 second shots.

To date, 1,805,779 jabs have been administered in the province, including 861,179 second shots.