alta. should be cautious, despite no post-thanksgiving covid spike: hinshaw
hinshaw said that while numbers are trending in the right direction, the number of people in hospital — 836 patients, including 183 in intensive care — continues to be higher than the highest peak of the third wave last winter
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by: dylan short
health officials are continuing to urge caution as alberta appears to have avoided a thanksgiving-induced spike in covid-19 cases.
the province reported 442 new cases on tuesday as active infections dropped to 9,267 — continuing the steady decline in active cases over the past several weeks. on oct. 8, the province reported 1,256 new positive tests when there were 17,839 people with covid-19 in alberta.
however, dr. deena hinshaw continued to urge caution tuesday, saying there could still be an increase in numbers if people attended gatherings during the holiday and then crossed between social groups.
“what happens in a secondary way is that if there are significant spreading events on that particular date or on that weekend, it could potentially cross into multiple networks,” said hinshaw. “we haven’t seen a significant bump so far. but, ultimately, we know there’s still a lot of covid out there and we do need to maintain caution.”
hinshaw said that while numbers are trending in the right direction, the number of people in hospital — 836 patients, including 183 in intensive care — continues to be higher than the highest peak of the third wave last winter.
she urged everyone who has not received a vaccination for covid-19 to do so. hinshaw said alberta’s vaccination campaign has received a boost since the province implemented the restrictions exemption program that allowed businesses to open to people who can prove they are vaccinated or have tested negative in the previous 72 hours. she said more than 505,000 first and second doses of vaccine have been administered since the program took effect.
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more than 86 per cent of eligible albertans have received one dose of covid-19 vaccine, while 79.2 per cent of people aged 12 and over in the province are fully vaccinated.
several areas in the province continue to have low vaccination rates, including the county of forty mile in southern alberta, where 50 per cent of eligible people have received one dose, and high level in northern alberta, where 32.4 per cent of eligible individuals have received one dose.
hinshaw said it is clear covid-19 will not be completely eliminated in alberta and that anyone who is not vaccinated will inevitably be exposed to the virus in the future.
“for those who haven’t been exposed yet, now is the perfect time to get the protection the vaccine offers,” said hinshaw.
hinshaw said the dangers of potential future waves of covid-19 could be determined by how many people remain unvaccinated, what variants of the virus emerge in the future and how those variants interact with the vaccine.
“as we have always done, we will remain vigilant and watch the evidence, and respond accordingly wherever there are needs to adjust our approach,” said hinshaw.
alberta health services spokesman kerry williamson said there are 275 patients in total in alberta icu spaces, accounting for 83 per cent of total icu capacity. if the province did not have an additional 160 surge spaces available for use, the provincial icu capacity would be at 159 per cent.
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williamson said that as hospitalization numbers drop, ahs will close surge spaces to allow for resources to be redistributed to other parts of the health-care system.
“with pressure easing slightly on our icus, we are reducing the available surge beds so that we can redeploy staff back to caring for non-covid patients who need surgeries and procedures completed,” said williamson. “we will ensure that we maintain icu capacity above daily demand to a planned maximum of 380 beds as long as staff and physician availability allows, and will readjust our plans as needed if covid cases rise again.”
hinshaw will be joined by other medical professionals wednesday evening for a telephone town hall focused on answering questions about vaccines, fertility and maternal health. registration to part of the event is open.
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