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By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

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Dr. Hinshaw, Minister Copping deliver weekly COVID-19 update for April 27

Apr 27, 2022 | 4:33 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’s health minister says key data points of positivity rate and wastewater levels continue to show signs of slowing transmission of COVID-19 in the province.

He said the average PCR test positivity rate for the past week is 25.6 per cent.

“That’s lower than most of the past month, and signals that we may be plateauing,” Jason Copping said at the weekly Wednesday update. Copping said wastewater data shows declines over the past week in most parts of the province.

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Hospital admissions are going the other way though.

Copping said they have risen by about eight per cent in the past week, an expected occurrence as more people venture out into public more often and as mask-wearing in public is becoming less common. ICU admissions remain stable and overall hospital admissions are up slightly, but are in line with pre-COVID years, he added.

“We’re now about five weeks into the BA.2-driven surge in transmission and we can see that the impact is much less than the initial Omicron wave, especially when it comes to hospital admissions,” he said.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw said the COVID virus will likely be more prevalent in the fall and winter months when respiratory virus is typically more common.

“What we don’t know of course is the impact that viral evolution will have and how new variants of concern might interact with our population,” she said. “But ultimately what we have seen … vaccines are incredibly effective at minimizing severe outcomes.”

Hinshaw also advised that AstraZeneca COVID vaccines will no longer be available in Alberta. There is ample supply of the preferred Moderna and Pfizer options, as well as Janssen and Novavax vaccines, which are available for those who need or want a non-mRNA vaccine.

WATCH TODAY’S UPDATE BELOW

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: 1,220 (+94)

ICU admissions: 47 (+4)

Deaths: 4,252 (+62)

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 25: 712 – 2304 tests
April 24: 681 – 2883 tests
April 23: 840 – 3558 tests
April 22: 968 – 3598 tests
April 21: 1,036 – 4456 tests
April 20: 1,228 – 4909 tests
April 19: 1,127 – 4448 tests

>> Total new cases over last 7 days: 6,569 >> last week: 6,125, two weeks ago, 6,181, three weeks ago: 5,549

>> Total tests over last 7 days: 26,156
>> Daily average over 7 days: 3,736

Seven-day positivity rate: 25.75% (-0.11)

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: 14,666 (+182)

7-day new case rate: 171.1 (-32.9)

Deaths: 104 (–) >> 2 reported last week

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: 172 (-8)

ICU admissions: 3 (+1)

Deaths: 543 (+9)

• 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: 4/19/2022. A male in his 60s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.
• Date of death: 4/21/2022. A male in his 60s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.
• Date of death: 4/21/2022. A male in his 90s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.
• Date of death: 4/21/2022. A male in his 90s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.
• Date of death: 4/22/2022. A male in his 80s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.
• Date of death: 4/23/2022. A male in his 70s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.
• Date of death: 4/24/2022. A female in her 60s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.

Elsewhere in the zone

VACCINATION DATA

WASTEWATER DATA

INFLUENZA

Cases: 460
>> Type A: 458
>> Type B: 2

Hospitalized: 41
ICU: 2
Deaths: 0

Doses of vaccine administered: 1,205,967 (27.3% coverage)

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