REGINA — Saskatchewan residents are being urged to take caution over the holidays, as public health experts are predicting a surge in COVID-19 cases identified as the Omicron variant.
Chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab spoke about the current state of COVID-19 in the province during a Dec. 21 update from the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre.
Since the first cases were discovered on Dec. 8, Saskatchewan has now identified a total of 65 positive cases of Omicron, up from five cases reported on Friday. Three cases of the Omicron variant have been linked to schools, confirmed Shahab.
Shahab said that none of these individuals are currently in hospital due to the virus.
Breakthrough cases in vaccinated individuals are occurring, said Shahab, but with milder symptoms and less hospitalizations.
He anticipates the province will continue to see more cases of the more highly-transmissible variant in the future, especially in those who are unvaccinated.
Data from September through to November, presented by Shahab during the briefing, shows that unvaccinated individuals are 6 times more at risk for illness, 14 times more at risk for hospitalization and 23 times more at risk for ICU admission..
“We know that over the next two to four weeks, Omicron will become the predominant strain in Saskatchewan,” said Shahab. “Our main goal is to prevent a high surge. We will see an increase in transmission, but we want to keep our numbers as low as possible.”
Shahab said that while Saskatchewan’s case numbers are currently the second lowest in the country, which he described as “hard-won,” now is not the time to relax safety practices like masking and vaccination.
“The actions we take over the holidays will determine if and when we will see a surge,” said Shahab.
Marlo Pritchard, lead at the PEOC and president of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, began his update by asking residents to “be smart [and] diligent” during their holiday celebrations.
Shahab echoed the statement, advising the public that while no formal public health orders are in place to limit gathering sizes, residents should be considering doing so anyway.
“We can do a lot more this Christmas and holiday season that we could last year, but we do need to be cautious with the risk of Omicron taking hold,” said Shahab.
He asked residents to take all possible precautions over the holidays, including reducing contacts by 50 per cent and avoiding any non-essential travel even within the province.
This includes adding regular rapid testing into the routine, he said, and considering the potential consequences of gathering with large groups.
“At this point, we feel it's fine to gather safely but keep your group small and consistent,” said Shahab. “Other provinces’ messaging has been ‘20 is plenty.’”
Shahab also confirmed that he has made internal recommendations for measures to reduce people’s contacts by at least half, in the face of Omicron transmission.
Both officials also reminded residents that booster dose availability has been expanded as a measure to reduce severe outcomes of Omicron. Appointments are still available to receive that third dose of vaccine, said Shahab.
“COVID-19 booster doses are appearing to provide additional protection against severe illness and hospitalization from the Omicron variant,” said Pritchard.
Since the system opened on Dec. 20, the Saskatchewan Health Authority has booked over 32,000 appointments for booster doses, which Pritchard said is a record number of bookings in one day since the vaccine rollout began.
Staff from the public health and primary care sectors of the Saskatchewan Health Authority are being temporarily redeployed to support booster delivery due to the overwhelming demand, said Pritchard.
The shift in direction will not affect the plan to return redeployed staff, said Pritchard. As of the SHA’s last update, the resumption plan is currently in stage two and 147 of 229 redeployed staff have returned to their home positions.
Shahab continues to encourage Saskatchewan residents to seek vaccination and booster doses.
