Active COVID-19 cases, deaths from illness rising a month after Sask. lifts restrictions

It has a been more than a month since Saskatchewan lifted all of its publicCOVID-19 restrictions.

In thattimethe province has seen a rise inCOVID-19-related deaths and an increase in the number of active cases, with some regions finding cases at rates well above the rest of the province.

A professor of epidemiology atthe University of Saskatchewan says the rising number of cases has been fuelled by a trio of factors:stalled uptake on COVID-19 vaccinations, thelifting of health measures andthe increasing presence of the COVID-19 delta variant.

"Public health measure are animportant complement and important assistantto vaccines in order to suppress and hopefully eliminate COVID-19 fromour province," Dr. Nazeem Muhajarine told CBCNews during an interview earlier this week.

By the numbers

Between July 11 and Aug.11, the province reported 1,511 new cases of COVID-19.

There were 11moreCOVID-19-related deaths during that same time period. With two more deaths reported Thursday, that figured climbed to 13 deaths since restrictions lifted.

The month saw the pandemic touch every corner of the province, witheach health zone in Saskatchewan recordingnew cases.

While Saskatchewan as a whole recorded just a three per cent increase in cases, some areas saw higher rates than others.

Only days after restrictions were lifted,The Buffalo River Dene Nation in the province's far northwest health zonedeclared a COVID-19 outbreak.

That's helped fuel anearly nine per cent increase, or 280 new cases,in that region the second highest of any health zone in the province.

The only zone with a worse rate was the far north central health zone, which saw a 15 per cent increase, or 67cases, over the month.

Sixty-sevenmay not immediately sound like a large figure, but the provincesays the population of that health zone isonly2,649. That means a full 2.5 per cent of that health zone's population got COVID-19 between July 11 and Aug. 11.

Larger zones like Regina and Saskatoon have only seen 4.5 and 3.5 per cent oftheir populations get COVID-19 throughout the entire pandemic.

It's not just the total number of cases that has continued to increase.

When restrictions were dropped on July 11, the province was reporting 399 active cases in the province.

Although active cases initially dropped in the days after that date,they havesince climbed back up.

The provincereported682 active cases as of Aug.11.

Vaccine uptake slows

There has been no significant increase in the number of people receiving their first dose in the same time period.

The number of eligible people in the province who have receivedtheir second dose in the past month jumped by 11 per cent, with 110,485 doses.

During the same time, only three per cent of the population got a first dose.

Muhajarine saidthat's a bad thing, given that Saskatchewan has decided vaccination will be the primary way to combat COVID-19 going forward.

"We have significant pockets of people who live in certain places without even one dose of vaccine, you know, and we have lifted all public health measures," he said.

'We need to deal with this'

Muhajarine saidthe province needs to remain focused on the pandemic and called for the premier and health minister to help explain what is going on.

Saskatchewan hasn't held a COVID-19 news conference since July 7, when Premier Scott Moe said it would be ending regular updates.

The province hasalso reeled back its efforts to communicate information with media and residents. It no longer provides daily news releases on COVID-19 statistics or new cases, and instead only provides a weekly recap.

The province did not answer a question from CBC News on whether it plans to change its communications policy and start holdingCOVID-19 news conferences now that numbers are rising again.

Instead, a statementpointed individuals to its online dashboard, which is updated with daily COVID-19 statistics at 1:30 p.m. CST every day.

Muhajarine saidnot discussing the state of COVID-19 is unacceptable.

"We need to deal with this," he said.

"By wishing it away we are not going to wipe COVID-19 from our province. We cannot wish it away."

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