Updating COVID-19 Testing and Case Management Guidelines

Released on December 30, 2021

Saskatchewan has rapid antigen testing kits available throughout the province to help residents monitor for COVID-19 at home.  Increased use of this tool enables everyone to take the necessary actions to prevent COVID-19 transmission, preserving PCR testing capacity for high-risk populations and ensuring vaccinated individuals can safely return to workplaces and activities sooner. 

• Effective immediately, asymptomatic residents who receive a positive COVID-19 result on a rapid antigen test will no longer be recommended to receive a confirmatory PCR test. 
• Fully vaccinated asymptomatic residents who receive a positive COVID-19 result on a rapid antigen test or PCR test will be required to self-isolate for five days, down from 10 days.

Free rapid antigen tests are available throughout the province.  If you have COVID-19 symptoms, self-isolate immediately and seek a PCR test through a Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) testing site. 

Whether you have received a positive test result through a rapid antigen test or a PCR test, all residents are required to self-isolate and notify their contacts as part of COVID-19 case management protocols:

• If you are fully vaccinated: self-isolate for five days from the date of test or 48 hours after your symptoms have ended, whichever is later.
• If you are not vaccinated or partially vaccinated:  self-isolate for 10 days from the date of test or 48 hours after your symptoms have ended, whichever is later.
• Notify your close contacts.  This is anyone you have been within two metres of for longer than 15 minutes.
• Close contacts must isolate for 14 days from the date of last exposure unless they are fully vaccinated and do not have any symptoms.  Use rapid antigen testing if asymptomatic, ideally between day five and seven of the 14 day isolation.  If any symptoms develop, seek a PCR test.
• Learn more about self-isolation at Saskatchewan.ca/covid-19.

If you don't feel better after the five or 10 day period or your symptoms worsen at any time, contact your primary care provider or call HealthLine 811. Keep self-isolating until your symptoms improve and your fever is gone (without taking medicine that reduces fever) for 48 hours. 

PCR testing continues to be recommended for:

• Any resident who has symptoms of COVID-19, including cold and flu-like symptoms
• Priority populations such as health care workers, long-term and personal care home residents, and those who care for vulnerable populations.

Find SHA testing options near you. 

The self-isolation period has been updated from 10 to five days for confirmed cases who are fully vaccinated and more accurately reflects the infectious period for those who have received full protection of immunization.  Note that "fully vaccinated" occurs two weeks following two doses of a two-dose vaccine series (AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna), or a single dose of the single dose vaccine series (Janssen).  Booster doses are recommended for all adults 18 years of age and older.

Vaccination is the best tool available to prevent COVID-19 transmission and serious COVID-19 illness.  Residents five years and older are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and residents 18 years and older are now eligible to receive their booster/third dose three months after their second dose.

Find a vaccination clinic near you.

Ring in a Safe New Year

Let's leave COVID-19 in 2021 by ringing in 2022 safely.

• Stick to one gathering on New Years' Eve.  Keep it small, limiting your contacts as much as possible.  Continue to wear a mask and physically distance among people from multiple households who are unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown.
• If choosing to celebrate at a restaurant, bar, or public venue, remember that the current public health order requires masking in all public spaces when not at your table and that you must provide proof of vaccination or negative test. 
• Know before you go - take a rapid test ahead of any gathering, even if you are vaccinated.  Free rapid testing kits for asymptomatic screening at home are available throughout Saskatchewan. 
• Don't host or attend a gathering if you feel unwell. Seek testing for even the mildest cold or flu-like symptoms, regardless of your vaccination status.

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For more information, contact:

Health
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4083
Email: media@health.gov.sk.ca