The number of COVID-19 deaths in Alberta rose again this week, but the province’s chief medical officer says the large number of weekly deaths should not last long.
From May 3 to 9, public health officials reported 70 new deaths related to COVID-19. In the previous week, from April 26 to May 2, 69 deaths were registered.
Dr Dinah Hinshaw described the high number of deaths as a lagging indicator of the wave of infections associated with the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant.
“Deaths are usually one of the latest indicators of both rising and falling. So I wouldn’t expect to see this high mortality rate continue, “Hinshaw said during a COVID-19 update Wednesday with Health Minister Jason Kopping.
In past waves, transmission of the virus is first seen in the number of cases and levels of positive tests, followed by hospitalizations and admission to the intensive care unit, then deaths, she explained.
“I would expect … that as we see some of these other indicators start to turn down, we would expect to see the same thing in our number of deaths,” she said.
But Hinshaw noted that there will be more waves than COVID-19 and the deaths should act as a reminder that this is a serious disease for many people.
There are currently 4,391 Alberts who have died from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Other statistics released by the province on Wednesday show the current wave appears to have peaked.
As of Monday, there were 1,225 hospitalizations with COVID-19, including 37 patients in the intensive care unit. A week ago, there were 1,267 patients, including 46 in the intensive care unit.
The pass rate of the seven-day PCR test was 20.72 percent, up from 22.98 last week.
Public health officials have identified 4,379 new cases of COVID-19 from May 3 to 9.
Both the positive rate and the number of cases reflect only the results of PCR tests, which are not available to most Albert residents.
Despite favorable indications of levels of positivity and the number of cases, the health minister encouraged Albert residents to be vaccinated against COVID-19 with either primary doses or a booster.
“Although the BA.2 wave is coming down, it is still circulating there,” Koping said. “We continue to urge all those who have not received their injection or have not received their booster to do so, because this is the best protection they can provide for themselves.
As of Monday, 77 percent of all Alberts – including those not eligible for COVID-19 vaccines – have received two doses, while 37.6 percent of all Alberts have three doses.
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