Hinshaw: All provinces shifting from pandemic to endemic

“After nearly two years of requirements to modify the way we have lived, worked and socialized to help reduce transmission of the virus and help protect each other, it’s going to take time and effort to adjust away from mandates and towards personal risk assessments and actions,” said Hinshaw.

She said for some this transition will be quick and easy while for others it will be much more challenging. She said there is no one right way to respond to the changes.

Health Minister Jason Copping says wastewater data from Edmonton, Calgary and Banff clearly shows that the Omicron wave is past its peak in Alberta.

He says that doesn’t mean they will stay low, or that another wave and variant might not appear.

“It can come in again. In fact, we should assume it will,” Copping said at the Tuesday COVID update.

Wastewater figures are also declining in Red Deer. The latest statistics for Feb. 10 showed 254.67 viral copies per millilitre of wastewater, down from 257.53 on Jan. 31.

In Lacombe, numbers were sky high at 2,173.29 on Feb. 3, and dipped to 185.34 on Feb. 8, but are up again to 427.8 as of Feb. 10.

Wastewater data is a leading indicator, said Copping, but a risk the province must manage and is basing easing restrictions on..

He said the province is prepared for an increase in hospitalizations and that, “there is currently no basis to expect that wave of hospitalizations to happen.”

Copping said the number of COVID patients in hospitals has been on a downward trend since Feb. 7 and should continue to drop as daily admissions have begun to drop.

In the last seven days, COVID was the primary or a contributing factor in 70.5 per cent of non-ICU hospitalizations and 84.5 per cent of ICU admissions.

Hinshaw announced she will be taking two weeks off, leaving the health minister to provide regular updates. There will be no COVID media update on Thursday.

She also announced anyone 55 years or older who is unvaccinated or has had one dose of vaccine is now eligible for Paxlovid or Sotrovimab treatment.

Among new cases today, 33.5 per cent are unvaccinated, 1.7 per cent have had one dose, 33.5 have had two doses and 31.3 per cent have had three doses.

Among current hospitalizations, 30.4 per cent are unvaccinated, 5.4 per cent have had one dose, 36.7 per cent have had two doses and 27.5 per cent have had three doses.

Among Alberta’s total population, 80.7 per cent have received at least one dose of vaccine and 75.4 per cent have received two doses 34.7 per cent have received three doses.

The province-wide reproductive value for the week of Jan. 31-Feb. 13 is 0.76. It is 0.72 in Calgary Zone, 0.78 in Edmonton Zone and 0.79 in the rest of Alberta.

At the last update from Jan. 24-30, the numbers were 1.00 in the province, 1.04 in Calgary Zone, 0.96 in Edmonton Zone and 0.98 in the rest of Alberta.

WATCH TODAY’S UPDATE HERE

PROVINCIAL NUMBERS

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

Hospitalizations: 1,538 (+10)

ICU admissions: 123 (-1)

Deaths: 3,790 (+14)

MORE HEALTHCARE CAPACITY DATA

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Total cases: 517,650 (+838)

Total recoveries: 494,810 (+2,639)

Active caseload: 19,050 (-1,815)

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

Tests completed: 2,499

Seven-day positivity rate: 28.85% (-0.40)

RED DEER

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

Total cases: 13,073 (+21)

Total recoveries: 12,430 (+83)

Active caseload: 553 (-62)

Deaths: 90 (–) >> last death reported Feb. 14

CENTRAL ZONE

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

Hospitalizations: 165 (+2)

ICU admissions: 8 (–)

Active caseload: 2,353 (-185)

Deaths: 471 (+2)

Death details:

· Date of death. 2/12/2022. A female in her 90s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.

· Date of death. 2/13/2022. A male in his 80s in Central zone. The case involved pre-existing conditions.

Elsewhere in the zone

Red Deer County: 205 (-17)

Sylvan Lake: 80 (-10)

Lacombe County: 80 (-6)

City of Lacombe: 68 (-9)

Ponoka County: 297 (-19)

For more data from central Alberta communities, click here.

VACCINATIONS

*Numbers are up to date as of previous day’s end. Numbers in parentheses represent a SEVEN-day change (unless otherwise noted). With the slow in vaccination rates growing, rdnewsNOW has decided to update these numbers once per week only.

Province

Doses administered: 8,438,043

Of eligible 5+ population…

% one dose: 85.9 (+0.1)

% two doses: 80.3 (+0.5)

% three doses: 36.9 (+0.7)

Of total population…

% one dose: 80.7 (+0.1)

% two doses: 75.4 (+0.4)

% three doses: 34.7 (+0.7)

Red Deer

*The Government of Alberta says 100,446 people in Red Deer are eligible (5+) for vaccination, with a population of 106,420.The government has not yet begun sharing geographical data for those with booster doses.

People with one dose: 78,839 (+77)

People with two doses: 74,559 (+295)

% eligible pop.: 74.23 (+0.30)

% total pop.: 70.06 (+0.28)

People with three doses: 33,052 (+458)

% eligible pop.: 32.91 (+0.46)

% total pop.: 31.06 (+0.43)

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

Hinshaw: All provinces shifting from pandemic to endemic

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