Test positivity for COVID-19 in Saskatchewan has increased to 4.0 per cent from 3.8 per cent reported during the June 19-25 report.
That’s according to the province’s Ministry of Health, who released the latest COVID-19 numbers from June 26 to July 16 on Thursday.
Test positivity was highest in the Northwest, Saskatoon, Central West, Regina and Southwest regions.
The lowest percentage of test positivity was found in the Far North Central, Northeast and South Central regions.
The ministry added that calls to 811 for respiratory-like illness, and visits to emergency departments have increased as well.
During the reporting period, 628 new cases of the virus were confirmed, with 229 COVID-19 hospital admissions and 15 ICU admissions.
A total of 22 new COVID-19-related deaths were reported, eight of which occurred in a prior period, but weren’t reported.
The ministry said that the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages are now the dominant virus strain in Saskatchewan, now making up 65.6 per cent of reported cases.
They noted 633 courses of Paxlovid have been administered, and 54 Remdesivir prescriptions have been filled with 137 infusions.
At least 21.6 million rapid antigen test kits have been distributed across the province.