The provincial government announced on Thursday that Saskatchewan incorrectly reported the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the daily report on Wednesday.
Health Minister Health Paul Merriman said, in a statement, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) informed him of a discrepancy in numbers that has led to inaccurate reporting of hospitalization data.
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“Data reported by the SHA in the March 31st update indicated that 166 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19, including 23 in ICU. An accurate reporting of the data should have reflected that as of March 31st there are 192 hospitalized patients in Saskatchewan, including 33 in ICU,” read his statement.
“I met with the CEO of the SHA to express my disappointment and concern over this error … This data represents people in care in our system, and it is critical that this information is reported accurately and transparently.
“As minister, I look to this information to inform key decisions, and I know that the public has a rightful expectation that this information is reported accurately. The SHA has assured me that this error has been rectified going forward.”
As of April 1, the province’s hospitals are currently providing care for 193 patients with COVID-19 — 159 are receiving inpatient care and 34 are in intensive care.
“These discrepancies in previous reports were a result of how patients who receive intensive care in a surge bed outside of an ICU were being recorded. The above data is accurate and reflects the updated reporting,” read a statement in Thursday’s daily update.
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Health officials said on Thursday there were 199 new cases with the overall infection total in Saskatchewan now at 33,789. The new seven-day average of daily cases is up from 201 on Wednesday to 206.
According to the provincial government, 1,682 variants of concern (VOC) cases have been identified in Saskatchewan and were reported in the far north east (1), north central (9), Saskatoon (53), central west (5), central east (27), Regina (1,348), south west (1), south central (129) and south east (109) zones.
Of the 890 VOCs with confirmed lineages identified by whole-genome sequencing, 882 are B.1.1.7 and eight are B1.351. The Regina zone accounts for 84 per cent or 744 of the VOC cases with confirmed lineage, read the release.
Active cases, which are total cases minus recoveries and deaths, now sit at 1,949 in Saskatchewan, according to the press release.
The total number of people who have recovered from the virus has grown to 31,404 following 205 more recoveries, provincial health officials said.
According to the press release, 3,982 COVID-19 tests were performed on Wednesday. To date, 669,431 tests have been carried out in the province.
A total of 200,633 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Saskatchewan, provincial government officials said.
There have been 436 COVID-19-related deaths in Saskatchewan to date.
Health Minister Paul Merriman, SHA CEO Scott Livingston and chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab are expected to provide an update on the COVID-19 situation in the province at 3 p.m.
Global News will stream the press conference live on our website.
More to come…
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus. In some provinces and municipalities across the country, masks or face coverings are now mandatory in indoor public spaces.
For full COVID-19 coverage, visit the Global News coronavirus web page.