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Active COVID-19 cases in Saskatoon zone rise to highest since January

The Saskatchewan Health Authority has declared 33 COVID-19 outbreaks in the Saskatoon zone so far this month.

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The number of active COVID-19 cases in the Saskatoon zone climbed to the highest point since January over the weekend.

On Sunday, active cases in Saskatchewan’s most populous zone rose to 605, the first time that number has been above 600 since Jan. 31.

Active cases in the Saskatoon zone hovered around 500 for about a month before climbing above 560 last week.

On Monday, the Saskatoon zone added 55 new cases and 98 recoveries to drop active cases to 562, which is still higher than for most of the past four months.

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The Saskatoon zone leads the province in active cases and also led the Regina zone on Sunday by more than 200 for the first time since January.

Active cases in the Regina zone have declined to 379, the lowest since Feb. 19.

Saskatoon is far below the 755 active cases in the Regina zone on March 23, when the province announced tighter restrictions for the area and several nearby communities amid a surge driven by COVID-19 variants of concern.

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Active cases in the Regina zone reached 1,121 on April 5 before declining.

The actives in the Saskatoon zone, which has about 22 per cent more residents than the Regina zone, sit below the Jan. 18 peak of 920 and the pandemic high of 1,538 on Dec. 7.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority has declared at least 33 COVID-19 outbreaks in the Saskatoon zone so far in May. That compares to 10 in the Regina zone that are listed on the Saskatchewan government website.

Some outbreaks are removed from the list when they are deemed no longer active, but some outbreaks from 2020 are still listed.

Under the month of April, 22 outbreaks in the Saskatoon zone are still listed. That same number for the Regina zone is 23.

Health Minister Paul Merriman said last week that the government had no plans to impose any new restrictions in the Saskatoon zone. Restaurants in the Regina zone reopened on Monday and a travel advisory was lifted, but venues like theatres remained closed.

However, some good news could be coming for Saskatoon based on the latest analysis of wastewater by the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan.

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The study showed a 31 per cent drop in the COVID-19 viral load in sewage examined from May 6 to May 12 compared to the previous study period.

The analysis, which is posted on a U of S website every Monday, suggests a “moderate decrease” in COVID-19 cases on the horizon.

The study also shows a resurgence of the B.1.1.7 variant of concern first detected in the United Kingdom, which accounts for 77 per cent of viral load, up 44 per cent over the previous study. The P.1 variant first found in Brazil was also detected.

As of Monday, the province has confirmed 482 B.1.1.7 cases and 11 cases of P.1 in the Saskatoon zone.

ptank@postmedia.com

twitter.com/thinktankSK

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