As COVID-19 transmission grows in Alberta, there are growing fears that reports from the provincial government could hurt efforts to blunt the curve and protect hospitals from further tensions.
Transmission, wastewater levels and hospitalizations are on the rise, but politicians and health officials have not yet described the wave as a “sixth wave”, despite statements by doctors and scientists that it is here.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Alberta’s chief medical officer acknowledged the rising figures and noted that the positive rate had fallen overall (albeit at high levels averaging 26.6% in seven days).
However, Dr. Dean Hinshaw stopped committing to the idea that Alberta was in the sixth wave.
“The scale of this rise, how long it will last – these are questions to which we still do not know the answers,” she said.
“Whatever we call it, whether it’s called the sixth wave or just talking about the rise of the show we’ve seen, we certainly all know the kinds of things that can help protect ourselves and the people around us.
That doesn’t go well with Dr. Noel Gibney, an honorary professor of critical medicine at the University of Alberta.
“This is dangerous because it stops reports that OV COVID has not disappeared,” he said.
“I think the messages we get from the countryside are trying to downplay where we are… If people don’t fully understand where we are – we’re really in the early stages of the sixth wave, where the numbers could actually be more high above anything else we’ve experienced before – I think that puts the public in a bad place. “
COVID-19 hospitalizations did not have time to decline significantly after the fifth wave before rising again.
And Gibney said hospitals – especially those in Calgary and Edmonton – are under significant pressure.
The latest figures show that as of Monday, there were 1,053 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 48 in intensive care.
However, both Health Minister Jason Kopping and Prime Minister Jason Kenny have recently said they do not expect hospitals to be strained to the point that public health measures will need to be reintroduced.
“We can see the number of hospitalizations that potentially exceeds anything we have seen so far. So to say the government is not under pressure, I think, is misleading, “Gibney said.
Timothy Caulfield, Canadian research director for health law and policy at the University of Alberta, says he believes many Alberta residents are disappointed with the limited access to data and how the government is outlining the current situation with COVID-19. (Sam Martin / CBC)
Other experts agree on the need for a clear statement that the sixth wave has arrived.
“I think it matters because it signals to the public that it’s not over – we still need to take steps to protect ourselves and our loved ones and protect our health care system,” said Timothy Caulfield, Canadian Research President. in Health Law and Policy at the University of Alberta.
“By not acknowledging what is happening, I think you are urging the public not to acknowledge it either, and that is not the role of the government. The government must lead. They should have this conversation, and they are not. “
The message from the Alberta government, according to Caulfield, is that people need to make their own risk assessments. But with a dramatic reduction in reporting and surveillance, he said, there is no longer enough evidence.
“I think the Alberts are left in a very confused state,” he said, noting that he believed many Alberts were disappointed.
“[They] would like to have more clarity on what is currently needed in terms of public health, and I also think they would like to have more clarity on where, according to the government, COVID is going in this province. “
Part of the problem, according to Caulfield, is that the Alberta government allows policymakers to manage these health policy decisions.
“I think the Alberta government and, frankly, I think there are a lot of governments around the world that are politically locked in a corner,” he said.
“They don’t want to sound like there is a retreat. And I understand it from a political point of view. But this decision must be guided by the needs of public health and what the numbers really say.”
Gibney, meanwhile, said now was the time to reconsider the mask’s mandate, promote booster injections, increase PCR testing and improve access to antiviral treatment in an effort to protect as many people as possible.
“COVID has not disappeared. COVID is not endemic. COVID is still a big pandemic. “
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