Deaths and hospitalizations dropped in Saskatchewan as the province released its weekly COVID-19 data.
The province reported 13 COVID-19-related deaths in the seven days ending on March 5, down from the 44 deaths from the previous reporting period.
The report said 85 per cent of the deaths were people aged 80 and older.
Hospitalizations also dropped, with 339 patients in hospital as of March 9 who have been diagnosed with COVID-19. That is down from 353 on March 2.
The weekly report said 142 current patients were in hospital with a COVID-19-related illness, with 186 having an incidental COVID-19 infection. Officials noted 12 cases are still under investigation.
Patients being treated in intensive care dropped from 19 to 12.
The incidence of new cases continued to fall, although officials cautioned that the rates do not include cases detected by home rapid-antigen tests.
The province said 1,013 new cases were laboratory-confirmed during the reporting period, down from 1,101 the previous week.
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Saskatchewan has stopped performing PCR tests on the general population. Instead, PCR tests are only carried out on priority populations at elevated risk for severe outcomes.
During the reporting week, 7,518 lab tests were carried out in Saskatchewan, with a test positivity rate of 12.7 per cent.
Declared outbreaks edged up, with 17 outbreaks confirmed at long-term care and care home settings.
There was a slight uptick in the number of people aged five and older who have received at least one dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine.
The province said that number is now 85.6 per cent of the population, up 0.1 percentage points from the previous week.
Among the population aged 18 and older, 50.9 per cent have received at least one booster vaccination, an increase of 0.2 percentage points.
The government ceased daily reporting of COVID-19 numbers in early February, a move that came under scrutiny this week.
Opposition health critic Vicki Mowat said more information is needed so people can make informed decisions.
She said the Saskatchewan Party government made a political decision to reduce the amount and frequency of information that is released to the public.
Saskatchewan Health Minister Paul Merriman said the government is just following the advice of Dr. Saqib Shahab.
Shahab, the province’s chief medical health officer, has said that weekly trends are more informative than new case numbers based on PCR testing.
“A deeper weekly trend analysis demonstrates the value of booster doses in limiting the risk of poor outcomes from COVID-19,” said a statement from the Ministry of Health.
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