COVID-19 hospitalization numbers, along with people receiving treatment for the novel coronavirus in an I-C-U, each had their largest one-day rise over the last month, according to Tuesday’s daily dashboard update from the Government of Saskatchewan website.

There are 189 positive COVID-19 cases in provincial hospitals, up 22 from Monday, while the I-C-U infections are up from 13 Monday to 18. That’s the most individuals in Saskatchewan I-C-Us since December 27th when there were 29. Otherwise, there were 1,089 new cases of the virus in the latest update, along with 965 recoveries and a 13th consecutive day without a COVID-19-related death. That leaves 11,781 active cases in the province. In addition, the weekly Ministry of Health report shows that 84-four per cent of Saskatchewan residents 12 years and older and 78 per cent aged five years and older are fully vaccinated while 44 per cent of eligible residents age 18 and over have now received their booster dose.

Highlights

COVID-19 Summary for January 18, 2022:

• From January 12 – January 18, 15,309 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of primary series vaccines administered in the province to 1,834,160.
• An additional 42,538 third and fourth doses have been administered in the province from January 12 – January 18, bringing the total number of vaccines including boosters administered in the province to 2,251,572.  Forty-four per cent of eligible residents age 18+ have now received their booster dose.
• As of January 18, 88 per cent of residents 12 years and older and 85 per cent of residents five years older have received their first dose.  Eighty-four per cent of residents 12 years and older and 78 per cent of residents five years and older are fully vaccinated.
• There were 8,533 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan from January 12 – January 18, bringing the provincial total to 102,641 cases.  There were 5,670 recoveries recorded during the same period.
• The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan is currently 1,219 (101.2/100,000).
• Zero new deaths were reported January 12 – January 18.
• There were 452 new lineage results reported for January 12 – January 18.
• As of January 18, 189 individuals are hospitalized including 171 inpatient hospitalizations and 18 ICU hospitalizations. Of the 189 patients, 67 (35.4 per cent) were not fully vaccinated.
• Since October 25, 57 monoclonal antibody infusion treatments have been delivered.
• From January 12 – January 18, there were 25,804 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan.

Cases infected with a variant of concern (VoC), as of January 18, 2022

Note that the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory is reporting that 95 per cent of new cases are Omicron cases, based on SNP testing. Based on this percentage, it is assumed that all new COVID-19 cases in the province are Omicron and the RRPL will cease performing SNP testing on new samples. All specimens from international travellers who test positive in Saskatchewan will continue to undergo whole genome sequencing to determine their lineage, as well as randomly selected cases from across the province to continue surveillance of circulating virus.

* As of September 13, 2021, the province of Saskatchewan ceased testing for variant type on all new cases using SNP in order to support overall COVID-19 testing. Whole genome sequencing will continue to identify any emerging variants. Note that, as public health investigations proceed, variant of concern case locations may change due as residence locations are confirmed.

COVID-19 Deaths by Age Group, as of January 18, 2022

3rd and 4th Dose Administration – As of January 18, 2022 (updated every Tuesday)