COVID-19 in Alberta: 35 weekend deaths as hospitalizations show signs of gradual decline

Parents waiting on COVID-19 vaccine plan Alberta is now the only province without a public plan to vaccinate young children against COVID-19. Nicole Lampa reports.

The number of COVID-19 deaths in Alberta grew by 35 over the weekend, including two individuals in their 30s, while the count of hospitalized coronavirus patients showed signs of gradual decline, according to Monday’s data update.

The deaths bring the total number of COVID-19 deaths up to 3,776 and were of individuals ranging in age from in their 30s to more than 80 years old.

The deaths reported on Monday occurred over several days, including one in January, and bring the number of fatalities in individuals under 40 years old up to 65 since the start of the pandemic.

Seventy-four Albertans have died due to COVID-19 over the past week.

The latest initial count of patients with COVID-19 in hospital sits at 1,528, the 19th highest to date, but also likely to rise in the coming days due to data revisions.

Friday’s count, initially reported as 1,566, was revised to 1,602, the 10th highest to date.

Hospitalization data is routinely revised for accuracy and to account for reporting delays.

The 28 highest patient counts have all come in the last 28 days, including a record-high 1,675 on Feb. 7.

The seven-day average of patients in hospital gradually declined but remains over 1,600 as it has for most of the past two weeks.

Friday’s patient count includes 124 patients in intensive care units, a decrease of five over the last seven days. The ICU patient count has held steady between 103 and 134 since Jan. 17.

There are now more than 20,000 known active cases in Alberta after more than 2,600 new cases were confirmed Monday. Limits to testing capacity and eligibility mean the actual number of cases is many times higher.

Unvaccinated Albertans are outnumbered nearly four-to-one by those who have had at least a first shot of vaccine, but remain many times more likely to experience a severe outcome due to COVID-19 including hospitalization or death.

Alberta has now administered more than eight million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, with 80.7 per cent of the population having had at least one dose and 75.3 per cent having had two shots.

More than a third of Albertans, 34.6 per cent, have now also received a third dose. And, more than 263,000 doses have been administered to children aged between five and 11 years old.

The next data update is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.