Sask. has highest COVID-19 cases per capita in Canada, weekly data shows

SASKATOON — Saskatchewan has the highest seven-day average of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in Canada.

About 2.88 people per 100,000 are infected with the virus in Saskatchewan as of Wednesday, according to the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

Alberta has the second highest amount of cases per capita over a seven-day span, followed by Quebec.

Saskatchewan has seen a spike in cases over the past few weeks, with a record amount of active cases of 322 as of Wednesday.

“It’s a reminder that this virus is still here, and it’s a reminder that vulnerable populations are still at risk,” Dr. Joseph Blondeau, head of Clinical Microbiology at Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital, told CTV News.

“Unfortunately I think we’re letting our guard down a little bit, and we’re not doing the things that we need to be doing in order to limit the spread of the virus.”

Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 reproductive number is getting closer to the province’s pandemic modelling data.

The reproduction rate, or R0, is the number of people to whom one infected person is expected to spread the virus.

In April, the province’s pandemic modelling projected the reproductive rate to be 3.12.

That number was calculated as if “no interventions been undertaken and everyone was susceptible,” according to the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

As of Thursday, following months of public health measures, the province’s reproductive number was 2.94 — meaning the average infected person will infect about three others.

“I think the fact that we are sparsely populated is to our advantage, however it’s still incumbent on all of us in this province to do our part when we’re out in public,” Blondeau said.

Saskatchewan’s reproductive rate is more than double Alberta’s latest number.

Alberta’s reproductive rate is 1.18 as of July 27.

Note: a previous version of this story said Saskatchewan's infection rate was 2.96 per 100,000 people, it has since been updated with the most current data available.