Alberta says COVID-19 indicators continue to drop in last scheduled update

Alberta Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw address media during a provincial pandemic update on Nov. 29, 2021.

COVID-19 test positivity rates and wastewater levels continue to drop across Alberta, officials reported on Wednesday.

In the last scheduled COVID-19 update, Health Minister Jason Copping said Alberta had a positivity rate of 12.2 last week, an improvement of 1.6 per cent.

"As transmission has decreased, so too have our levels of hospitalizations," he said.

There are 661 people with COVID-19 in hospital, 17 of whom are in ICU.

On Feb. 26, there were 1,295 hospitalizations, including 88 ICU admissions.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, reported 13 COVID-19 deaths.

Hinshaw told reporters Wednesday was the province's last scheduled COVID-19 update.

Alberta Health will continue to update its data on a weekly basis.

MONKEYPOX

Alberta has also added another monkeypox case, increasing the total to five.

All cases are in the Edmonton and Calgary zones, Dr. Hinshaw said.

The latest is an adult with a known close contact outside of Alberta.