Alberta flu deaths in March keep pace with COVID-19 toll

Flu fatalities in Alberta this month have equalled the number of people who’ve died from COVID-19.

With the official flu season ending next week, 36 Albertans have died from the flu since Aug. 25 and up to March 21, says Alberta Health Services.

Two of those deaths occurred in the last three weeks, while two people have succumbed to COVID -19 since the first infections were reported in Alberta on March 5.

In the previous flu season, 30 people died from influenza.

There have been at least 1,437 influenza hospitalizations out of a total of 8,338 cases reported since last summer while admissions for COVID-19 now stand at 23 from 542 known cases.

Thirty-three others have recovered from COVID -19, the province said Friday.

Earlier this month, Dr. Jia Hu of Alberta Health Services called this flu season “a moderate one compared to previous years.”

The 2016-17 flu season saw 64 reported fatalities from the virus.

While Hu said vigilance, including vaccinations, must be maintained to confront the flu, the illness hasn’t led to any of the dire situations facing hospitals in China, Italy, Spain and the U.S., which have been swamped by the COVID-19 cases.

In some of those countries, the outbreaks are so severe, authorities have struggled to handle the numbers of COVID-19 victims’ bodies and Italy is now suffering nearly 1,000 deaths a day, the most in the world.

Epidemiologists say the novel coronavirus is more infectious and lethal than common flu strains and note that, unlike influenza, there’s no vaccine or treatment to combat it.

COVID-19 also has a longer incubation period and is slower to become apparent, making it easier to unknowingly transmit.

However, the COVID-19 cases identified so far in the province are merely “the tip of the iceberg,” Alberta Chief Medical Officer of Health Deena Hinshaw said Thursday while explaining the measures taken to reduce its spread.

“If we wait until we’re in a situation where our hospitals are overrun, it’s too late,” she said.

Alberta health officials are hoping the end to the flu season will free up more resources to face an intensifying struggle against COVID-19.