'COVID-19 remains with us,' says Alta. health minister as province updates weekly data

Extended: Alta. COVID-19 update for March 23 Dr. Deena Hinshaw and Jason Copping give the first weekly COVID-19 update.

Alberta updated its COVID-19 data for the first time since last Friday.

There are 956 Albertans with COVID-19 in hospital, including 56 in intensive care.

"I'm pleased to report that hospitalizations due to COVID continue to drop, slowly but surely," said Health Minister Jason Copping.

"We need to acknowledge that COVID-19 remains with us and the health system is still under significant pressure."

A total of 4,044 Albertans have died since the pandemic began, a count that grew by 21 over the prior four days.

Alberta's positivity rate, which Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said is the most important leading indicator, ranged from 20.6 to 27.1 per cent between Friday and Monday.

Hinshaw added BA.2 is now the dominant strain of Omicron in Alberta.

"Although inherently more transmissible than BA.1, so far there is no evidence of it causing more severe disease than BA.1," she said. "While this is good news, we only have to look back to the fifth wave to see that a virus that is more transmissible can cause a large impact at a population level even if the risk of severe outcomes are the same or lower for individuals."

Alberta will update its COVID-19 data next Wednesday.

OTHER COVID-19 RELATED NEWS 

An Edmonton MLA says he used Alberta's premier's birth date in September to prove the government had "failed to implement the most basic security protocols" on its COVID-19 vaccination website by hacking it, and accessed a private citizen's information in the process.

Edmonton's councillors decided Tuesday to not require masks in city-owned and operated facilities, which lines up with provincial rules.

The Calgary Flames organization has filed a lawsuit against its insurers alleging $125 million in losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.