Dr. Deena Hinshaw, CMOH. (Gov't of Alberta YouTube livestream)

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

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Dr. Hinshaw on COVID-19: Virus circulation and hospital admissions increasing

Apr 20, 2022 | 4:43 PM

Beginning the week of March 23, Alberta Health is only sharing new COVID-19 data with the public on Wednesdays, barring extenuating circumstances. rdnewsNOW will continue to report them as they are updated.

Up-to-date COVID-19 stats are below…

Alberta is experiencing increases in virus circulation and hospital admissions, but they are smaller and moving more slowly than was seen in December and January, says the health minister.

Jason Copping says those increases from the BA.2 subvariant were expected based on what other jurisdictions experienced and the recent exposure to BA.1.

Copping also said BA.2 infections may be at a plateau. PCR test positivity rates from April 12-18 are similar to the previous period, 25.9 per cent to 26.6, and wastewater levels remain mostly below levels seen during the initial Omicron wave at the beginning of the year.

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“More importantly, we’re not seeing the same impact on hospital admissions that we’ve seen before,” he said during the weekly Wednesday update. Those are up about three per cent to 1,126, a similar increase from the week before. There are 43 Albertans in ICU with COVID-19 at the latest update, down from 46.

“The total number of patients in our hospitals has been stable for the past couple of months. COVID admissions have increased but the total hasn’t. The total is within normal … for this time of year,” Copping added.

For the entire health system, Copping said ICU admissions have been within normal bedbase for several weeks and a “near-normal” volume of surgeries is being completed.

“We are transitioning to living with COVID. Not by denying it, but by relying on the proven protection of vaccines,” he said, encouraging Albertans to continue to get vaccinated and get their booster shots when eligible.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw said even though there has been an increase in the number of breakthrough cases among vaccinated Albertans, the data backs up the effectiveness of a full vaccine series.

“It is very clear that vaccines are critically important in lowering the risks for hospitalization and death,” she said.

Looking at the data for Albertans ages five-years-old and up, those not vaccinated were more than three times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19, said the chief medical officer of health. They were almost eight times more likely to be admitted to ICU than those with three doses of vaccine.

In the same period for those 80 years of age and older, those who were not vaccinated were more than four times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID in the last four months and almost six times more likely to die from COVID than those with three doses of vaccine, she said.

Hinshaw said people may not notice or shrug off minor symptoms going into spring and will continue to go about their daily business. She said it’s important to remember that can have serious consequences for those close to them and Alberta’s rules around isolation remain the same.

“If you test positive or have symptoms of COVID-19, you are required to isolate at home and away from others,” she said.

That’s for a minimum of five days or until symptoms have resolved, whichever is longer, for those with two or more doses of vaccine. For all others, the requirement is 10 days or until symptoms resolve.

WATCH TODAY’S UPDATE HERE

PROVINCIAL NUMBERS

*Numbers are up to date as of previous day’s end. Numbers in parentheses represent a seven-day change unless otherwise noted

Hospitalizations: 1,126 (+73)

ICU admissions: 43 (-5)

Deaths: 4,190 (+49)

MORE HEALTHCARE CAPACITY DATA

—

*With the province limiting testing since the fifth wave, these confirmed cases do not accurately reflect the number of cases in the community.

Total cases:

April 18: 814
April 17: 639
April 16: 741
April 15: 858
April 14: 1020
April 13: 1036
April 12: 1017

>> Total new cases over last 7 days: 6,125 >> last week: 6,181, two weeks ago: 5,549

Seven-day positivity rate: 25.86% (-0.76)

RED DEER

*Numbers are up to date as of previous day’s end. Numbers in parentheses represent a seven-day change unless otherwise noted

Total cases: 14,482 (+217)

7-day new case rate: 204.00 (+4.7)

Deaths: 104 (+2)

CENTRAL ZONE

*Numbers are up to date as of previous day’s end. Numbers in parentheses represent a seven-day change unless otherwise noted

Hospitalizations: 180 (+24)

ICU admissions: 2 (–)

Deaths: 534 (+9)

Death details:

• Date of death: 4/11/2022. A male in his 70s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.

• Date of death: 4/12/2022. A male in his 80s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.

• Date of death: 4/13/2022. A male in his 90s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.

• Date of death: 4/13/2022. A female in her 60s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.

• Date of death: 4/14/2022. A female in her 90s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.

• Date of death: 4/15/2022. A male in his 80s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.

• Date of death: 4/15/2022. A male in his 60s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.

• Date of death: 4/16/2022. A male in his 90s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.

• Date of death: 4/16/2022. A female in her 60s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.

For more data from central Alberta communities, click here.

VACCINATION DATA

WASTEWATER DATA

(Story by Chris Brown/CHAT News Today, stats compiled by Josh Hall/rdnewsNOW)