There was a rise in the number of deaths related to COVID, from 14 to 19, while hospitalizations for the past week are down, from 390 to 321.

For the week ending May 7th, the provincial government’s weekly report says there were 710 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan, from the 7,099 lab tests performed. That’s a test positivity rate of 7.6 per cent, which is down from 10.1 per cent the previous week. The highest test positivity rates were in the rural South East and Central East zones. Last week, there were 765 new cases confirmed.

From 252 tests looking at what COVID variant the virus was, the province states 94.8 per cent was the Omicron BA-2 variant. This variants is more transmissible , but the government says there is no current evidence of increased severity.

Other respiratory viruses, including influenza and RSV or respiratory synctial virus, have higher test positivity in Saskatchewan than COVID-19, and the majority were processed by labs in Saskatoon and the Far North.

Ninety-seven per cent of the vaccines administered in the reporting week were third and fourth booster doses, with 23,380 doses in total. If you are 50 and older, you are eligible for a fourth dose, and appointments are available through the Saskatchewan Health Authority and pharmacies throughout the province.

For the complete report, click here.