Huge surge of COVID-19 pushing hospitals to limit
As Alberta ICU admissions near 100, care for other patients is put at risk
Alberta reported its second-highest number of new COVID-19 infections Sunday — behind only the total of a day earlier — as the number of Albertans in intensive-care units neared 100.
Ninety-five of the 435 people in hospital with COVID-19 now require intensive care, an increase of seven from Saturday. Alberta hospitals exceeded the benchmark of 70 full acute-care COVID-19 beds last week and are preparing another 400 to cover the surge of ICU admissions.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, said during Thursday's news conference that passing that threshold means “we'd be crossing into territory where we'd be impacting other patients' care.”
When hospitals are overrun, care winds down for people who can “wait a little longer for it,” which is a serious cause for concern with the continuously rising number of ICU admissions, she said.
It's been five days since Premier Jason Kenney announced an assortment of mandatory public health measures, including a ban on indoor social gatherings, a 10-person limit on wedding and funeral services, and a closure of grades 7 to 12 in-person classes — which starts Monday.
The effects of the new restrictions are not yet felt as Alberta Health reported an additional 1,608 cases of COVID-19 on Sunday after 1,731 cases Saturday — the highest case rates the province has seen since the pandemic began. The positivity rate Saturday was about eight per cent, and dropped slightly to just under seven per cent Sunday.
Almost 45,000 tests were conducted between the two days.
There are 15,692 active cases across the province, about 36.7 per cent of them in the Calgary zone. The Edmonton zone has the greatest share of active cases with 46.1 per cent.
Hinshaw posted on Twitter to urge people to connect with loved ones virtually while social gatherings are prohibited.
“The next few weeks will be hard for all of us in light of the restrictions on social gatherings. I want to thank all of you for doing the right thing and making these sacrifices to help bend the curve,” she said Sunday.
“While we may be physically separated from each other, I strongly encourage you to reach out to your friends and family and stay connected virtually.”
Another 14 deaths were recorded over the weekend — five Saturday and nine Sunday — bringing the provincial death toll to 533.
One of the nine deaths reported Sunday was a man in his 80s linked to the outbreak at Clifton Manor in Calgary. Five of the deaths were linked to an outbreak at the Edmonton Chinatown Care Centre, while one other death was in the Edmonton zone, one in the South zone and one in the North zone.
The current outbreak at Clifton Manor, in southeast Calgary, has had 41 positive cases, 39 of which are active, with one recovery and one death. This is the second outbreak at Clifton Manor. The first resulted in seven deaths and 38 recoveries.
ANTI- MASKERS RALLY
Saturday's anti-mask protest of about 1,000 people in front of city hall was led by a group called Walk for Freedom, which said on social media it was rallying to “protect our charter rights.”
On Friday, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi called anti-mask rallies “illegal” due to provincial limits on outdoor gatherings.
New provincial rules introduced Tuesday restrict outdoor gatherings to a maximum of 10 people and many municipalities, including Calgary, have bylaws making the use of face coverings mandatory in many settings, though they
Of course, police will always use their discretion in cases like this.
aren't required outdoors.
“Of course, police will always use their discretion in cases like this. They don't want the enforcement to cause more danger for people,” Nenshi said. “Whether you agree or disagree, it is your right to assemble peacefully; however, right now the law says you can only assemble in a group of 10.”
The same day, Alberta Justice Minister Kaycee Madu said the province expected enforcement of COVID-19 public-health orders to ramp up, granting 700 additional peace officers across the province the powers to issue fines starting at $1,000 for egregious violations.
“As minister of justice, my expectation is that those who are in violation of the measures that we have put in place would have to be held accountable,” Madu said.
Shawn Rupchan with the Calgary Police Service said there wasn't enforcement at the rally itself but there could be something on followup.