Regina continues to be a hotspot of COVID-19 but other parts of the province are seeing concerning rises as well.
At the latest Sask. Health Authority news conference Thursday afternoon, chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab noted they are seeing increases in the rural south, Weyburn and area, and Moose Jaw and area.
They are seeing increases in both case numbers and variants of concern there. South Central 2 including Moose Jaw has 51 active cases, South East 1 including Indian Head and Fort Qu’Appelle had 42, and South East 3 including Weyburn has 21.
While not as high as the 862 active cases in Regina
When asked if the rise in cases in the south central and the south east part of the province might prompt more restrictions there, Dr. Shahab noted they are “watching very closely.”
“We expected communities close to Regina would be impacted,” he said. Dr. Shahab added that if you see lots of cases of variants of concern not linked to one another, “that speaks to uncontrolled community transmission. So if we start seeing that in any community, unfortunately we would have to think of further progressive measures.”
Regarding the latest measures in Regina and area, which includes orders to limit gatherings to immediate households and travel restrictions in and out of the city, Dr. Shahab said it was “a bit early to show impacts.” Because there is more testing happening. He said they expect case numbers to rise for the next week or two “before they stabilize and hopefully start coming down.”
Dr. Shahab also noted the bulk of new cases are in the 18-49 age group, noting these were people out and about in public-facing jobs. With the variants, there was quick transmission from the workplace into a household and into schools, and “that’s what we’re trying to get ahead of.”
He urged Saskatchewan people to stay the course.
“While we have significant measures in Regina right now, all of us all throughout Saskatchewan should continue to observe everything we are doing.”
He also urged people to get the vaccination when eligible, and called the vaccination program a “key thing in our race against time against variants of concern.”
SHA chief executive officer Scott Livingstone admitted that “in the past few weeks we have been tested in a way we have not been tested during the pandemic.”
In terms of numbers, Livingstone said 60 patients are in Regina hospitals with COVID-19 with 16 admitted to ICU. Of those 39 have tested positive for variants and that includes 15 of the 16 patients ICU.
The patients are also getting younger. Of 35 ICU admissions in the past month, only a single individual was over the age of 70, and 10 are under the age of 40.
On the vaccine front, the feedback has been “overwhelmingly positive” to the drive thru vaccine clinic in Regina. It has garnered attention across the country, said Livingstone, because of the speed in which it worked. There are plans to set more drive thru clinics up in Saskatoon, Yorkton and Moose Jaw. Other locations are also planned but Livingstone said those are at more seasonal locations, meaning not indoor. Those are likely to be set up in parking lots and more information will be coming on those.
Livingstone was also questioned about long waits for drive thru testing in Regina, with stories of waits in line of over four hours.
“No, it’s not acceptable to have people wait that long in line for a test," said Livingstone, and “that is why we're aggressively expanding capacity so they don't have to wait and we can meet demand.”
