Premier, CMOH address Omicron in live COVID update as numbers decrease

Kenney said 156 Albertans have been identified as having returned in the past two weeks from one of the countries identified in Canada’s enhanced border measures.

Those travellers have been contacted and reminded about current health protocols and testing and isolation requirements. They and their households have been offered household rapid testing kits and PCR tests.

“To be clear, no one has tested positive here but we’re working with these individuals to reduce any chance of spread,” said the premier.

Kenney said measures will be implemented for all COVID-19 cases identified in returning international travellers.

“Full case investigations and contact notification, PCR testing for all close contacts and rapid testing for households and specific settings like schools and child care settings.”

For all confirmed Omicron cases in people who did not travel, all close contacts will be investigated and asked about symptoms 14 days following exposure, said Kenney. He added anyone with symptoms will be treated as a probable case.

Kenney said Albertans can help the province prepare for the eventual arrival of Omicron by getting vaccinated and following public health measures.

The fourth wave of COVID-19 that overtook the province in the summer was driven by the Delta variant.

Copping reported that more than 96 per cent of Alberta Health Services employees are fully immunized, as per AHS policy. He said 99.6 per cent of physicians are fully immunized.

Copping said he’s concerned about vaccine hesitancy that remains, particularly in smaller communities where there is a potential for loss of staff and an impact on patient care.

He has directed Alberta Health Services to initiate rapid testing “at locations where there is a significant risk of service disruption due to unvaccinated employees.”

Yiu said the frequent targeted testing will be temporary and introduced in a small number of clinical work locations on Dec. 13. It will only be available to a small number of staff, which Yiu estimates to be about 260 employees will be eligible at 16 work locations in the province.

The policy deadline for staff to be fully immunized will be extended to that date.

AHS originally set a deadline of Nov. 30 for employees to be fully immunized and those who were not after that date were to be placed on unpaid leave. Anyone who does not meet the new AHS requirements and deadlines will be placed on unpaid leave.

Copping also said the privacy issue that forced the province to shut down its updated QR code site last week has been fixed. The updated QR code vaccine record can be downloaded or printed at alberta.ca/covidrecords.

PROVINCIAL NUMBERS

Over the past three days, Alberta Health confirmed a combined 806 new cases, with 325 on Friday, 253 on Saturday, and 228 on Sunday.

There are now 4,850 active cases, down 167 from Friday.

An average of 6,385 tests were conducted each day over the past three days. The seven-day positivity rate is currently 4.48 per cent, down from 4.95 per cent a week ago.

Provincially, 432 patients are hospitalized with COVID, down 23 over the weekend. Today’s new total includes 77 patients in ICU, down 13.

Of the 355 people hospitalized but not in ICU, 225 are completely unvaccinated, 20 have received one dose, and 92 have two doses. Another 18 have had three doses.

Of the 77 in ICU, 61 are completely unvaccinated, three have one dose, and 11 have two doses. Another two have had three doses.

Since Friday’s update, there has sadly been seven new deaths added to the provincial COVID-19 death toll, which stands at 3,242.

CENTRAL ZONE

Over the weekend, Red Deer added 16 cases, 23 recoveries and two fatalities.

That leaves Red Deer with 120 active cases, down (net) nine from Friday.

Red Deer has now recorded 9,393 total cases, 9,190 recoveries and 83 deaths, with two reported this weekend.

Red Deer’s active case rate is currently 112.8 per 100,000 people, compared to 91.0 for City of Calgary and 58.7 for City of Edmonton.

The entire Central Zone has 664 active cases as of Monday, down 52 from Friday. There are 88 hospitalizations, down seven, and seven people are receiving intensive care at Red Deer Regional Hospital, down one.

The zone has had 398 deaths linked to the virus, with two reported over the weekend –both in Red Deer.

Those two deaths involved a male in his 60s who died Nov. 25, and a male in his 90s who died Nov. 26.

Central Zone’s one-day high for positivity rate over the weekend was 3.21 per cent with 343 tests conducted on Nov. 28. That’s the lowest one-day rate since Aug. 5 when it got as low as 3.01 per cent.

Active cases across Central Zone (three-day change)

Red Deer County: 42 (-1)

Sylvan Lake: 16 (-5)

Lacombe County: 17 (-5)

Lacombe: 21 (-4)

Ponoka County: 53 (–)

Brazeau County: 30 (-2)

Clearwater County: 41 (-7)

Mountain View County: 33 (+1)

Olds: 19 (-5)

Kneehill County: 17 (–)

County of Stettler: 26 (+2)

VACCINATIONS

In Alberta, 6,872,448 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have now been administered as of the end of Nov. 28. That’s up 37,936 over the weekend.

Of the 12+ population, 88.7 per cent has received at least one dose (75.9% total population), while 83.8 per cent of the 12+ population is now fully vaccinated (71.3% total population).

368,821 Albertans have received a third dose, up 7,434 from Friday.

*Regional data now includes ages 5-11. Prior to today, it was 12+ only

In Red Deer, 74,565 (70.1% of total population) people have received at least one dose, up 527 over the last three days.

Meanwhile, 70,574 (66.3% of total population) residents are fully vaccinated, up 201. (*Government of Alberta uses a population of 106,395 for Red Deer)

INFLUENZA

Alberta Health is reporting five total lab-confirmed cases of influenza — one higher than last Monday. There is one case in Calgary Zone and four in Edmonton Zone. They are all Influenza A. There have been zero ICU admissions, and zero deaths.

A total of 922,971 doses of influenza vaccine have been administered this season, including 72,688 administered in the last seven days.

WATCH TODAY’S UPDATE

by Josh Hall (rdnewsNOW) and Chris Brown (CHAT News Today)

Premier, CMOH address Omicron in live COVID update as numbers decrease

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