COVID-19 in Sask.: 199 people in hospital, test positivity at 31 per cent

Saskatchewan's COVID-19 hospitalization numbers continued to climb on Wednesday.

The province reported 10 more patients with the disease in hospital for a total of 199, with 21 of them in ICU. 

This month the province started tracking hospitalizations as a key indicator of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan, breaking down how hospitalized people contracted the virus.

Of the 178 inpatient hospitalizations, excluding people in ICU, 90 patients are receiving health care due to a COVID-19-related illness, 71 are incidental cases — meaning they were admitted for something else, then diagnosed with COVID —and 17 have not yet been determined, according to the province's dashboard on Wednesday. 

Of the 21 ICU patients, 15 are under intensive care for a COVID-19 related illness while five are considered incidental infections and one case is undetermined.

Test positivity rate at 31 per cent, 11,894 known active cases on Wednesday

As of Wednesday, test positivity in the province for the last day was 31 per cent.

The seven-day rolling average of test positivity is 33 per cent, meaning one-third of people taking a PCR test are being confirmed positive for the virus. 

On Wednesday the province reported 3,911 new PCR tests, 249 more than the day before.

There were 11,894 known active cases of COVID-19, including 1,223 new known COVID-19 cases, as of Wednesday's report. Those numbers don't include anyone testing positive on a rapid test alone or people who are asymptomatic. 

Overall, 1,008 out of 100,000 people in Saskatchewan, or about one in 100, are confirmed to have the disease right now, based on the reported PCR test results.

The province's online dashboard didn't report any new COVID-19 related deaths on Wednesday. So far 961 people with the disease have died in Saskatchewan.

As of Wednesday, 880,174 residents are fully vaccinated. That means almost 78 per cent of Saskatchewan people five years and up are now fully vaccinated.

More than 84 per cent of eligible people in the province have received a first shot.

Saskatchewan is expecting a shipment of a treatment for COVID-19 called Paxlovid this week.

Pfizer's oral antiviral pill is supposed to help people who have COVID and are at high risk of severe outcomes including hospitalization or death.

Quantities are expected to be limited at first and will increase throughout the year.