Alberta COVID-19 hospitalizations lowest since July; 26 deaths added

Specimens to be tested for COVID-19 are seen at LifeLabs after being logged upon receipt at the company's lab, in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, March 26, 2020. The doctor overseeing Canada's COVID-19 antibody research says we should get the first glimpse of how many Canadians may already have had COVID-19 by the middle of this month. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Alberta now has 622 people in hospital with COVID-19, 19 of whom are receiving care in ICUs.

That is a decrease of 61 hospitalizations and three ICU admissions compared to last week's update.

The last time Alberta's hospitalization numbers were this low was at the end of July, when 605 people were admitted.

Alberta Health data is routinely updated for accuracy and to account for reporting delays. Last week’s hospital numbers were retroactively increased from 683 to 706.

According to the province, 273 of the 706 people in hospital with COVID-19 last week were hospitalized for reasons directly related to the virus, while the other 433 people were admitted for other reasons, but incidentally tested positive. In the ICU, 48 per cent of patients were being treated because of COVID-19.

Alberta’s total number of COVID-19-related deaths went up by 26. Of the new deaths reported, 21 were retroactively added to past weeks, while five belong to this week.

Since its last data update, Alberta Health has counted 435 new COVID-19 cases in 5,180 PCR tests. That is a decrease of 123 cases and 365 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 8.54 per cent.

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

On Feb. 13, 2021, 314 Albertans were hospitalized with COVID-19. In 2022, 1,559 patients were in hospital with the virus, while there were 622 people this year.

In 2021, there were 56 people with COVID-19 in intensive care on Feb. 13, compared to last year's 122 and this year's 19.

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, there were 2,103 deaths.

There have been 114 COVID-19-related deaths so far this year, bringing the province's pandemic death toll to 5,536.

The next data update is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 22.