Hinshaw clarifies COVID-19 restrictions as Alberta reports surge in new cases
Alberta hit a record high for COVID-19 case counts during its fourth wave Thursday, reporting 1,718 new cases.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw announced the new infections at a news conference the day after she and other provincial officials announced a series of sweeping new health measures meant to blunt the fourth wave of COVID-19 transmission that is threatening to overwhelm Alberta's hospitals and intensive-care units.
The 1,718 new cases came from about 16,300 tests, representing a 10.6 per cent positivity rate. They bring the province's active case count to 18,706, the highest since May 18. Unvaccinated Albertans tested positive for COVID -19 Thursday at a rate more than five times that of their fully immunized peers.
Hospitalizations continue to rise steeply, with 896 Albertans now requiring hospital care for COVID -19, including 222 people in ICUS. That's up from 877 hospitalizations and 218 ICU admissions the previous day.
And more than 2,500 Albertans have now died of COVID-19 after Alberta reported 10 new deaths Thursday, bringing the pandemic's toll in the province to 2,505.
Hinshaw said she will provide twice-weekly updates to Albertans in the midst of the fourth wave, but Alberta Health said they will not resume reporting COVID -19 cases on weekends or holidays.
The top doctor also set out to clarify some of the public-health restrictions announced Wednesday, which had sparked confusion among Albertans.
She said a controversial limit on indoor social gatherings among the fully vaccinated to 10 people and two households is necessary. Although immunized Albertans make up a small proportion of hospitalized Albertans, she said, the province can't afford breakthrough cases putting further strain on the health-care system.
Hinshaw added Albertans who use a negative COVID-19 test instead of proof-of-immunization to access businesses that implement the province's new vaccine passport system, called the restrictions exemption program, must procure the test from the private sector.
“Alberta Health Services testing is for those with symptoms, those in outbreaks and those who need it the most,” Hinshaw said.
“Of course, instead of paying to get a negative COVID test done privately, you can get vaccinated for free. This will provide real protection, help beat down the wave and save you the money spent on testing.”
Hinshaw also said the province's decision not to require employees to be vaccinated at businesses that implement the vaccine passport falls in line with policies in other provinces.
As the fourth wave bears on, more acute-care and continuing-care sites in Calgary are experiencing outbreaks of COVID-19.
There are 15 active outbreaks at continuing-care sites in Calgary, totalling 137 cases and 10 deaths. The most severe outbreak is at Agecare Midnapore, which has seen five deaths and 56 cases.
Hospitals are also coping with outbreaks. At Foothills, four units have declared outbreaks, with 12 cases and one death. Two patients at Peter Lougheed are infected in an outbreak, and 26 cases and four deaths are linked to outbreaks across three units at Rockyview General Hospital
Dr. Joe Vipond, an emergency-room doctor at Rockyview, said he believes acute-care outbreaks could be mitigated if AHS recommended the use of respirators among hospital staff to help prevent the airborne spread of COVID-19.
“This has been a recurrent series of outbreaks since the start of the pandemic,” he said.
“They're not recommending respirators for routine use with COVID patients and therefore we're continuing to have these routine outbreaks. And I don't think it's going to stop with Delta. It's going to get worse and worse, and we're going to see more healthcare worker infections and more deaths.”