According to the Dec. 24 and 27 COVID-19 updates from the province, the number of hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients have been under-reported. Some who have remained in hospital after testing negative have been counted as recovered.
Dec. 24’s report said, “With Saskatchewan updating definitions of the COVID-19 infectious period to align with national definitions, the COVID-19 data set correction resulted in the number of individuals hospitalized due to COVID-19 being under-reported in the daily, provincial report. As of December 22, 2020, there were an additional 40 COVID-19 patients in hospital, including nine in ICU, who have been receiving care, resulting in the reported case number of 165. The Saskatchewan Health Authority is working on a process to ensure these numbers are included in the daily case reports. The provincial dashboard will have a notation added while this process is finalized.
“These are not new hospitalizations. These are patients no longer infectious for COVID-19, which had shifted them from active to recovered cases, but still experiencing the complications of COVID-19 illness. Validation processes are in place to report a complete census of patients in hospital, including ICU, due to COVID-19. The Ministry of Health is currently reviewing how these cases are reported in other Canadian jurisdictions.
