COVID-19 in Alberta: 35 weekend deaths as hospitalizations remain high

Thirty-five more Albertans have died due to COVID-19, nearly half of them in the Edmonton Zone, according to the province’s latest data update on Monday. 

The deaths bring the number of COVID-19 deaths up to 3,566 and were in individuals ranging in age from in their 20s to more than 80 years old.

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Seventeen of the 35 deaths were in the Edmonton Zone, including 10 within the city itself. Three of the deaths were of residents of northeast suburb St. Albert.

The deaths occurred across several days. Seventy Albertans have died due to COVID-19 over the past week.

 

Monday’s report included weekend data from Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

It showed the number of patients in hospital with COVID-19 remains high, with a pandemic-high count of 1,563 being set both Thursday and Friday. 

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

The growth rate may be slowing, with 1,516 reported on Monday’s update, but that number will likely increase after slight revisions in the days ahead. 

The 14 highest patient counts have all come in the last 14 days. 

The 1,516 patients in hospital also includes 99 patients in intensive care units, the first time that figure has fallen below 100 in two weeks. 

There are now more than 37,000 known active cases in the province with more than 6,500 new cases reported over the last three days. But, limits to testing capacity and eligibility mean the actual number of new and active COVID-19 infections is much higher.

Alberta has now administered more than eight million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, with 80.4 per cent of the population having had at least one dose and 74.4 per cent having had two shots. 

More than 32 per cent of Albertans have also received a third dose. 

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. 

The next data update is scheduled for Tuesday.