Another 41 people in Saskatchewan died with COVID-19 over a 2-week period: CRISP report

Deaths connected with COVID-19 continue to plague Saskatchewan, a new report shows.

Between Nov. 20 and Dec. 3 another 41 people died while infected with the virus, according to the province's latest Community Respiratory Illness Surveillance Program [CRISP] situation report.

One person was in the 20-59 age category, while the other 40 deaths were people 60 and older.

No deaths from influenza were reported during the same time period.

There have now been more COVID-19 deaths this year (795) than the 776 recorded during the same time last year.

Case counts for both COVID-19 and influenza are down slightly from the previous reporting period, but remain high.

There were 396 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 compared with the previous 453 cases.

Influenza cases dropped to 547 lab-confirmed cases from 699.

RSV hospitalizations have dipped, but RSV cases in the province have increased to 67 cases with a test positivity of 3.9 per cent from 22 . 

Nazeem Muhajarine, an epidemiologist with the University of Saskatchewan, says his concerned about the number of deaths, low vaccination rates and the number of respiratory viruses circulating in the community.

Despite this, he says government officials seem to be messaging that everything is back to normal.

"We have decided that we have had enough of COVID and had enough of other viral diseases and we're just going to go back to our lives,"  Muhajarine said. "We have imposed a social end to the pandemic and to contending with diseases that disrupts our lives. 

"But, medically speaking, it hasn't ended. COVID is still killing people. Influenza is on the rise. RSV is putting children in hospital."

The new CRISP report includes school absenteeism for the first time.

"For the most recent surveillance week, 15 per cent of Saskatchewan students were absent from school due to illness," the report says.

Weekly visits to Saskatchewan emergency departments for respiratory-like illness fell to 38.5 per 1,000 visits from 55.7 in the previous reporting period . 

Vaccination rates remain stagnant. Except for Regina, every other area of the province has less than 50 per cent of their population up-to-date for COVID-19 vaccines.  

Influenza vaccination uptake is even worse, the report says. So far just 22 per cent of the population has received an influenza vaccine.

That's a three per cent increase from the previous reporting period, but 13 per cent less compared with the same time last year.  

"We have a lot of viruses circulating, almost like a soup of pathogens that we're now contending — all respiratory related," Muhajarine said.

Muhajarine is also concerned about the possibility China might experience a spike in COVID-19 cases.

"We live in a global village and if China has a huge wave, it's going to come to our our shores as well," he said.

Ensuring vaccinations are up to date, wearing a mask and staying home when feeling ill is still the best way to help yourself and the community at large, he says.