Alberta COVID-19 hospitalizations lowest since January 2022, 20 deaths added

A man holds a disposable mask in this undated file photo. (File)

Alberta now has 518 people in hospital with COVID-19, 12 of whom are receiving care in ICUs.

That is a decrease of 36 hospitalizations and three ICU admissions compared to last week's update.

The last time Alberta's hospitalization numbers were this low was in Jan. 2022.

Alberta Health data is routinely updated for accuracy and to account for reporting delays. Last week’s hospital numbers were retroactively increased from 554 to 578.

According to the province, 239 of the 578 people in hospital with COVID-19 last week were hospitalized for reasons directly related to the virus, while the other 339 people were admitted for other reasons, but incidentally tested positive. In the ICU, 58 per cent of patients were being treated because of COVID-19.

Alberta’s total number of COVID-19-related deaths went up by 20. All of the new deaths reported were retroactively added to past weeks. None of the deaths belong to this week.

Since its last data update, Alberta Health has counted 347 new COVID-19 cases in 4,565 PCR tests. That is a decrease of 38 cases and 200 tests compared to last week's update.

The number of new cases is likely higher because of testing limitations and because the province doesn't count positive results from rapid tests.

The average positivity rate is now at 7.84 per cent.

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

On Mar. 6, 2021, 245 Albertans were hospitalized with COVID-19. In 2022, 1,130 patients were in hospital with the virus, while there were 518 people this year.

In 2021, there were 38 people with COVID-19 in intensive care on Mar. 6, compared to last year's 75 and this year's 12.

It is not known how many people in 2020 and 2021 were hospitalized and admitted to the ICU because of the virus versus people who were admitted for other reasons and incidentally tested positive, as that statistic was only made available by Alberta Health as of February 2022.

Alberta had 1,213 COVID-19-related deaths in 2020 and 2,106 in 2021. Last year had the highest number of fatalities, with 2,118.

There have been 185 COVID-19-related deaths to date, bringing the province's pandemic death toll to 5,622.

The next data update is scheduled for Wednesday, Mar. 15.