The provincial government is reporting 735 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, along with 74 recoveries.

300 of the new cases are from the Omicron Variant.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (9), North West (19), North Central (23), North East (7), Saskatoon (286), Central West (21), Central East (50), Regina (180), South West (4), South Central (47) and South East (58) zones and 31 new cases have pending residence information.

2,844 cases are considered active

79 people are in hospital including 67 receiving inpatient care and 12 in ICU.

Premier Scott Moe released the following statement in regards to the number of new cases reported on Friday:

As both Dr. Shahab and I stated yesterday, we can continue to expect higher case numbers due to the contagiousness of the Omicron variant, but the more important numbers we are tracking are hospitalizations and ICU admissions.  

Today, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations have remained the same and ICU admissions continued to decline, now at 12. Both hospitalizations and ICU admissions are at their lowest levels since August.

The Omicron variant is proving to be a more contagious but milder strain of COVID-19, especially for those who are fully vaccinated and have received their booster shot. If you haven’t done so already, get vaccinated and get your booster as soon as you can. Pick up a box of rapid tests and test yourself from time to time. There are plenty of vaccination appointments and plenty of rapid test kits available at locations all across Saskatchewan.