Alberta reports 49 new deaths from COVID-19 as hospitalizations increase

Forty-nine more COVID-19-related deaths were reported in Alberta on Wednesday as the province continued to see an increase in the number of people in hospital with the disease.

The province provided its weekly update to COVID on Wednesday, April 12-18.

As of Wednesday’s update, there were 1,126 people in hospital with COVID, up from 1,053 last week. The 1,126 included 43 people treated in the intensive care unit, a slight drop from the 46 reported last week.

Health Secretary Jason Kopping said on Wednesday that COVID levels in wastewater are high in many places, and in Edmonton the current levels almost coincide with the peak of the initial Omicron wave. He said levels are rising more slowly in Calgary.

“More importantly, we don’t see the same impact on hospital admissions we’ve seen before,” Koping told a news conference on Wednesday.

Koping said the number of patients in the hospital is stable, but noted that there are hospitals in Edmonton and Calgary that operate with more than 100 percent capacity.

“This is a concern, obviously, but it is also in line with previous years before COVID. In the same way, emergency departments and EMS continue to see a very large number of patients, which means delays and long waiting lists for some patients, “he said.

He said the government is working to add capacity to the health system.

During the seven-day period, 6,125 new cases of COVID were reported, detected by 24,745 tests. The new case numbers include only those who pass a PCR test that most Alberta residents do not have access to. The average pass rate for seven days was 25.9%.

Koping said the province is working on a new campaign for a third dose of the vaccine, as Alberta has one of the lowest booster levels in the country at just 37.1 percent. He noted that part of the low absorption may be due to people having to wait to receive their third dose after recovering from COVID.

“One of the problems we are also dealing with is that a large part of the population has received BA.1 and the council of the national advisory committee is [to] wait 90 days, after which you will receive your next injection. Well, we’re almost at this point now, “Koping said.