COVID-19 surge a ‘wake-up call’
Hinshaw says active cases have risen sharply and no zone avoided the uptick
Alberta’s top doctor says the continued spike in COVID-19 cases should be a “wake-up call” for Albertans as the province nears the highest number of hospital and intensive care unit admissions since the pandemic began.
On Thursday, Dr. Deena Hinshaw said 114 new cases of the deadly virus were identified from over 8,200 tests, bringing the provincial total of active cases to 1,293. Of those, there are 106 in hospital, 21 of which are in the ICU.
The province is fast approaching the current record of 113 overall hospitalizations on April 30 and 23 ICU admissions on May 1.
“This needs to be a wake-up call,” said Hinshaw. “Recently, our active cases have risen sharply. On July 9, we had 590 active cases. Today, we have nearly 1,300. Two weeks ago, we had seven Albertans in the ICU. Now we have triple that number.”
She reminded Albertans COVID-19 does not only have adverse impacts for older people: Twenty-four of the current hospitalizations are under the age of 60 and seven are between 20 and 39 years old.
Hinshaw said none of the province’s health zones has avoided the uptick.
Rural areas, such as those in central Alberta, were previously spared from high case numbers. They now have 33 cases in hospital. Seven are in ICU. There are 666 active cases in the Calgary zone, representing about 51 per cent of all Alberta cases and more than double any other jurisdiction. The city of Calgary makes up 545 of those cases.
Hinshaw said there is currently an increased demand for testing of asymptomatic individuals in Calgary but couldn’t offer specifics on the number of requests daily or wait times. She said as cases rise, priority will be given to people exhibiting symptoms, close contacts of known cases and long-term and continuing-care residents.
She said ensuring the province has the capacity to meet demand is a “work in progress.”
“I believe the recent increase in numbers is, in part, reflective of the fact that fatigue has set in,” said Hinshaw. “After several months of not catching the virus, it is easy to say, ‘I feel fine so why wash your hands? Why stay two metres apart in public? Why avoiding sharing food at a barbecue?’”
The answer is Albertans are still at risk and will remain so for months to come, she said.
Provincial data shows one in every 10 diagnosed COVID-19 cases in Albertans between the age of 70 to 79 has died from the virus. For those over 80, one in every four is dead.
“The risk of death does not seem to be much different when comparing those living in continuing care versus those living in the community,” said Hinshaw. “Don’t gamble their lives with these odds.”
Alberta’s top doctor said the sharp increase should remind everyone of the importance of physical distancing, practising good hygiene and wearing a mask when physical distancing isn’t possible.
“The guidance we have put in place is a manual for how to live with COVID -19 for at least the rest of this year and likely beyond,” said
Hinshaw. “It is not an optional suggestion that can be disregarded when inconvenient.”
She remained steadfast in the province’s decision not to mandate mask usage and said it could inadvertently distract from other public health measures, such as physical distancing.
Case numbers released Thursday represent trends and behaviour over the past two weeks, reminded Hinshaw, meaning increased numbers are likely to continue for a couple of weeks.
The focus now should be on bringing the virus under control by early August, but that means Albertans need to take meaningful action immediately, she said, adding it’s difficult to speculate on the undiagnosed case burden.
The long-term impacts of COVID -19 are not yet known, but early research shows those who survived the virus are at higher risk of diabetes and lasting lung damage. The outcomes are “life-changing ” and it’s not clear if those who have been infected will gain immunity.
“We are all tired of COVID-19, but this virus doesn’t care,” said Hinshaw.
“Remember who you are protecting. We are each other’s best defence today, tomorrow and in the weeks and months ahead.”