No new measures against COVID-19 even as Saskatoon is 'on red alert'

No new measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 are being announced in Saskatchewan even asthe province's chief medical health officer saysSaskatoon is"on red alert" following thecity's "very concerning" uptick in new cases.

On Tuesday, the Saskatoon area reported more new cases of COVID-19 than Regina, which has led all areas of the province in new infections since variants of concern began dominatingduring the third wave.

Officials recorded 70 new cases in Saskatoon on Tuesday, compared to 30 in Regina. Only the previous day, the situation was essentially reversed, with Regina reporting 80 new cases versus Saskatoon's 39.

Saskatoon also took the lead in new cases of variants of concernand recorded its first case of the highly-transmissible P1 variant of concern associated with Brazil, which has yet to be confirmed in Regina.

The abrupt switcheroobetween Saskatoon and Regina camethe day after University of Saskatchewan researchersflagged an alarming spikein viral load in Saskatoon's wastewater a finding they said potentially augursa significant impending increase in COVID-19 cases in Saskatoon.

During a COVID-19 news conference on Tuesday, Premier Scott Moe said that while there have been discussions about ensuring there are enough vaccines in Regina and Saskatoon to protect those cities' ICU capacities, the province has not had conversations about benchmarks for tighteningmeasures in Saskatoon.

Opposition Leader Ryan Meilisaid the government should have taken action in Saskatoon two weeks ago.

"It's incredibly, incredibly short sighted. It's going to kill people. And that was completely avoidable," Meili said.

Saqib Shahab, the province's chief medical health officer, makes recommendations but theSaskatchewan government ultimatelydecides whether to enact new measures.

Shahab said the rules already in place, including a ban on restaurant dining in Regina and a provincewide clampdown on mixing between households, are already very strict.

"I think Saskatoon is on red alert status and if required, specific measures may be needed," Shahab said."But at the end of the day, it is [about]the individual actions,especially care when we'reout and about. Minimize unnecessary visits to public indoor places, order more takeout, use curbside pickup whenever you can.

"At the same time, [we need to]make sure the pace of vaccination remains high."

Shahab also strongly encouraged anyone who can work from home to do so, citing a high preponderance of transmissions within workplaces.

"We absolutely don't want to see the surge that we saw in Regina happenin Saskatoon," he said.

Thatsurge tookplace in spite of the tightened measures in Regina, which also included a strong recommendation against travel in and out of the city.

The surge has been mostkeenly felt in Regina's intensive care wards.

On March 28, the day the ban on in-restaurant dining went into effect, the Reginaarea had 59COVID patients in hospital, including 17 people under intensive care.

On Monday,the area had fewer people inhospital (57) but a higher proportion of them were in ICU (27).

Many patients too young to get vaccinated

Scott Livingstone, the CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Authority, said many people currently hospitalized with coronavirusvariants of concern are not immunized because they're not old enough.

"Or they actually meet the criteria forage-based vaccination while they're in hospital with COVIDso they're not being vaccinated," Livingstone said.

On Wednesday, the age eligibility for booking a COVID-19 vaccine appointment is dropping to 42 and will dropto 40 on Friday.

As for benchmarks that might position Saskatchewan closer to lifting broad COVID-19 restrictions, Moe said he watches the province's fatality rate.

Saskatchewan has recorded 476 deaths related to COVID-19 since the pandemic began.Two-thirds of those deaths, or 323 of them,have happened in 2021.

Moe said hospitalizations and ICU admissions are also monitored.

"Ultimately, what drives both of those metrics is our vaccination rate," he said.