Alberta COVID-19 hospitalizations below 700, 24 deaths added

A nurse gets a swab ready at a temporary COVID-19 test clinic in Montreal, on Friday, May 15, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)

Alberta now has 683 people in hospital with COVID-19, 22 of whom are receiving care in ICUs.

That is a decrease of 19 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 654 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 702 to 726.

According to the province, 293 of the 726 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, 44 per cent of patients were being treated because of COVID-19.

Alberta’s total number of COVID-19-related deaths went up by 24. Of the new deaths reported, 21 were retroactively added to past weeks, while three belong to this week.

Since its last data update, Alberta Health has counted 558 new COVID-19 cases in 5,545 PCR tests. That is a decrease of 38 cases and an increase of 467 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 10.32 per cent.

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

On Feb. 6, 2021, 405 Albertans were hospitalized with COVID-19. In 2022, 1,611 patients were in hospital with the virus, while there were 683 people this year.

In 2021, there were 80 people with COVID-19 in intensive care on Feb. 6, compared to last year's 119 and this year's 22.

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 2,102 deaths.

There have been 89 COVID-19-related deaths so far this year, bringing the province's pandemic death toll to 5,510.

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