The Saskatchewan Health Authority’s (SHA) medical health officer (MHO) for Saskatoon said the city and surrounding area has entered the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Jasmine Hasselback said the region has seen several changes in a number of factors like the active case count and test positivity rate which have both increased over the past few weeks.
“If we reflect upon what’s happening nationally, as we said nationally we’re going through that fourth wave, other jurisdictions are there. Here in Saskatoon, we’re there,” she told Global News.
It is of concern as the Delta variant has been transmitted more through the province, flu season is on the horizon and vaccination numbers are tapering off.
There have been 934 Delta variant cases identified as of Aug. 12. There were 573 reported by the province on July 29.
Saskatchewan has only reported 4,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines delivered once so far in August, with four days seeing fewer than 1,200 shots delivered.
On Aug. 10, the province noted around 75 per cent of the eligible population had received a first dose.
It also listed 189 active COVID-19 cases in Saskatoon as of Aug. 12, which makes up nearly a quarter of all active cases in the province.
That figure has nearly tripled since July 30.
Saskatoon’s MHO noted people should consider being a little more cautious.
“We’ll definitely be supporting partners with making decisions about how to behave as the wave progresses. And a lot of time, that is going to be good guidance,” Dr. Hasselback said.
Some of that guidance includes staying home if you have symptoms, considering wearing a mask in an area with people you don’t know and receiving the vaccine if you haven’t had one yet.
Hasselback noted the size of the wave will be determined by how people in the city respond to rising case numbers and that the option for requesting additional health measures to provincial officials is a fluid decision where a number of factors need to be considered.