inspiring canadians to live better.

healthing leaf

inspiring canadians to live better.

healthing leaf
get healthing in your inbox with the morning checkup and weekender newsletter!
home / 世界杯决赛2022

alberta reports 34k active covid-19 cases, kenney says number is 'actually much higher'

'if you're feeling unwell, it's quite likely because of the omicron variant and this means it's critical to stay home until you're feeling better — even if you have a test with a negative result,' said hinshaw

by stephanie babych

jan 5 2022
read time 3 minute read
join the conversation
alberta opted not to introduce new restrictions to curb the omicron wave of covid-19 on tuesday, despite active case counts leaping to a record high of more than 34,000.
premier jason kenney said the number of albertans infected with the virus is “actually much higher” than the reported count since pcr testing has been limited.

because of the rapid transmission of the omicron variant, kenney said during a news conference tuesday that hospitalizations are expected to rise in the coming weeks. however, hospitalizations are already increasing, with 87 more covid patients in hospital tuesday than there were last week.

there are 436 covid patients in hospital as of tuesday, including 61 in intensive-care units.
kenney said although there is evidence the omicron variant causes milder illness, even a small fraction of people being hospitalized out of such a huge number of people who are infected can put “unacceptable pressure on the health-care system.”
thousands of cases were confirmed over the holidays, including a new single-day record of 4,614 cases reported dec. 30. the total number of active cases confirmed by pcr tests is 34,276. but lab testing is only identifying a portion of the overall cases in the province since at-home rapid antigen tests were distributed as an alternative.
powered by
canadian centre for caregiving excellence

advertisement

positive test results from rapid tests are not being collected or counted toward the case numbers reported by alberta health.
according to dr. deena hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, more than one in every three albertans getting a pcr test are testing positive for covid-19, with higher rates in edmonton and calgary.
“if you’re feeling unwell, it’s quite likely because of the omicron variant and this means it’s critical to stay home until you’re feeling better — even if you have a test with a negative result,” said hinshaw.
“the past two years have been some of the most challenging times that most of us have ever lived through. words like relentless, unfair, heartbreaking and exhausting only scratch the surface.”
in the past week, another 12 covid deaths were reported to alberta health, bringing the province’s death toll to 3,322.
one of the fatalities was that of a child between the ages of five and nine years who had a complex medical condition, hinshaw said.
“in the case of anyone under 18, we do not report a death until we’ve completed a thorough review and confirmed that covid was either a direct or contributing cause,” hinshaw said. “the presence of a medical condition does not take away from the grief or tragedy of this loss.”
powered by
obesity matters

advertisement

despite the spread of omicron in the province, kenney did not introduce additional public health measures as ontario or quebec have done over the past few days.
“we continue to monitor the situation very closely,” kenney said, mentioning his cabinet’s covid-19 committee meeting scheduled for wednesday.
“we had two meetings last week to review the latest data, both here, across canada and around the world. we do know that omicron is a significantly different variant than the earlier ones that we encountered.”
he said if committee members determine more action is necessary, they will take it.

ndp health critic david shepherd said in a statement he was disappointed the premier didn’t deliver a detailed plan on how students and staff will return to in-person classes next week or release projections on how omicron could affect hospital capacity.

“(tuesday’s) reported active cases are the highest we have ever seen and we know the true number is several times larger, but the ucp failed to offer albertans any kind of plan,” said shepherd.
during the briefing, kenney said he is calling on the federal government to take immediate action in authorizing the use of pfizer’s covid-19 antiviral pill approved for emergency use in other countries. he said it would be one more tool physicians and front-line staff could use as they experience another surge of patients.

advertisement

getting vaccinated, limiting the number of in-person contacts and rapid testing at home when necessary are all ways kenney said albertans can help protect themselves and relieve pressure on the health-care system.
as of tuesday, 85.3 per cent of albertans aged 12 and over have received two doses of vaccine, while 89.4 per cent have at least one. meanwhile, 37 per cent of children aged five to 11 have a first dose and 3.9 per cent have received two.
more than one million third doses of vaccine have been administered in alberta.

sbabych@postmedia.com
twitter: @babychstephanie

comments

postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. we ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. we have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. visit our community guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.