Alberta reports 240 new COVID-19 cases, 5 deaths

Alberta reported 240 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, but no new Omicron infections.

The province has 4,105 active cases of the disease, including 11 of the new variant, unchanged from Monday’s report.

"It is likely that we will continue to detect more cases and respond to them as we have to date," Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw told reporters Tuesday afternoon.

"We will not stop transmission. Our goal is to slow initial spread to give us more time to learn about the variant."

The province also reported five more deaths on Tuesday. They ranged in age from 50 to more than 80 years old with two in the Central Zone and three in the Edmonton Zone.

Fourteen people have died over the last week.

There are 373 patients in hospital with COVID-19, 76 of whom are in ICU.

More than 60,000 children aged five to 11 have received one vaccine dose.

Among all Albertans, 77.3 per cent have had at least one dose of vaccine, and 71.9 per cent have had a second dose.

The next COVID-19 data update is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

OTHER COVID-19 RELATED NEWS 

Alberta's United Conservative government has denied a request by the Official Opposition NDP to host an emergency debate on the province's plan to respond to the Omicron variant, hospital staffing shortages, health-care worker burnout, and increasing ambulance wait times. 

Edmonton restaurants say "there was never a full recovery" and, amid ongoing pandemic expenses and inflation, the future of their businesses are still uncertain. 

According to a new online survey by Rapid Test and Trace Canada, a large retailer of rapid COVID-19 tests in Canada, 46 per cent of Canadians plan to ask family and friends to get tested before a holiday visit. In Alberta, 72.3 percent of men surveyed expect there to be an argument over asking someone to be tested for a gathering, which is well above the national average of 58.3 per cent.