Respiratory virus activity eases in Saskatchewan as COVID-19 cases fall
By Ian MacKay
The number of people testing positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 slid to 49 during the week of March 1 to 7, down from 71 the week before and 102 during Feb. 8 to 14.
No one had died from COVID-19 or the flu during the four weeks covered in the latest charts from the provincial Health Department.
Over the past two weeks, “COVID-19 activity has decreased, while influenza and RSV activity have remained stable,” a Health Department statement said. “Hospitalizations related to COVID-19, influenza and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) continued to decrease.”
Positive flu cases remained fairly steady, with 67 during the latest week after 70 the week before, while the number of people testing positive for RSV declined to 130 during March 1 to 7 from 156 during Feb. 22 to 28, the highest among the past four weeks.
Hospitals around the province admitted 12 people with COVID-19 during the latest week, the same as the week before, with two needing intensive care, up from one the week earlier.
Seven people with the flu went to hospital during March 1 to 7, down two from the week before, with one needing intensive care during both weeks.
However, 34 people with RSV went to hospital during the latest week, up from 28 a week earlier but 10 fewer than two weeks previously, a chart showed. Five of the people suffering from RSV needed intensive care, up two from the week earlier.
The 47 people around the province considered sick with COVID-19 included 18 people in both the 65-and-over and 20-to-64 age groups, along with nine children under five years old and two aged five to 19.
Those sick with the flu comprised 24 people aged 20 to 64, 23 aged five to 19, eight children under five and three seniors.
Children under five made up 46 of the 123 residents suffering from RSV, along with 41 seniors, 24 people aged 20 to 64 and 12 aged five to 19.
One person tested positive for each virus in the department’s west-central region.