Northern Sask. residents asked to restrict non-essential travel
Northern residents are being advised to avoid all non-essential travel out of the Northern Saskatchewan Administrative District until the end of February to slow the spread of the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s really a concern for us in relation to how this could potentially distort our society and also overwhelm our health system’s capacity,” said Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority (NITHA) Medical Health Officer Dr. Nnamdi Ndubuka.
Medical health officers for the Athabasca Health Authority and NITHA say they were prompted by an increase in COVID-19 case numbers.
As of Jan. 20, there are 223 active COVID-19 infections in NITHA communities. Ndubuka says there are an average of 40 new cases per day.
Travel between communities within the district should also be for essential services only.
“Now that Omicron is the dominant strain in the province, we’re seeing a fairly rapid increase in cases,” said Ndubuka.
He says the Omicron variant is highly contagious and easily transmissible. Many of the positive cases are linked to travel outside northern communities to areas in the south, and out-of-province.
He estimates there are actually double the reported cases, due to people who have tested positive with rapid test kits and are self-isolating.
“Plus, the PCR positive results will really double if not more. So we have not seen the peak yet.”
Ndubuka says the fifth wave is “distressing” to the healthcare system because of the high caseload and absenteeism at workplaces.
He encourages people to get three doses of the vaccine, avoid gathering, stay home if they feel ill and test themselves with rapid test kits three times a week.
Among those positive cases in NITHA, 46 per cent are not vaccinated, 29 percent are fully vaccinated, 17 are ineligible for vaccination and eight percent are partially vaccinated.
He says there have been fewer hospital admissions with Omicron and no new patients have been admitted to hospital in the last eight weeks.
So far, 48 people in the NITHA health area have died following COVID-19 infection.
Correction
This article has been updated with the correct number of new daily cases.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.