Influenza in Alberta: Cases remain low, no new deaths reported for first time in months
No Albertans died from influenza this week according to the latest data, while only 29 new cases were reported – a low not seen since October.
The last time no new deaths were reported was the week of Nov. 5.
The death toll this flu season is 116.
In-hospital deaths as well as deaths in community settings reported by first responders are included in that number, while data for seasons prior to 2021-2022 only include hospital deaths.
HOSPITALIZATIONS
This influenza season, 2,044 Albertans have required hospital care. There were eight new admissions in the latest update.
This season has the second-highest number of hospitalizations in 14 seasons.
The Calgary zone has had the most patients requiring hospital care, with 765, followed by the Edmonton zone’s 579.
Of the eight new admissions between Feb. 26 and Mar. 4, 63 per cent were 40 or older. One of the admissions was a child between the ages of one and four.
To date, 210 people have required intensive care. No new patients were admitted in this update.
The majority of ICU patients this season have also been in the Calgary zone.
CASES
Alberta reported 29 new infections on Thursday, a decrease from the week prior. New case numbers have stayed below 50 for three consecutive weeks.
According to Alberta Health data, this season has the second-highest number of cases in 14 seasons, with 8,923 infections so far. The 2017-18 flu season had the highest number of cases, with 9,115.
The Calgary zone has had the highest number of influenza cases in the province, totalling 2,996 so far.
The Edmonton zone has the second-highest number of cases in Alberta, with 2,591.
The Central zone has had 1,061 cases; the North zone has reported 1,586 cases, while the South zone has counted 683. Six cases have not been assigned a zone.
Influenza A has made up 98.5 per cent of this season’s laboratory-confirmed cases.
OUTBREAKS AND VACCINATIONS
There have been a total of 98 outbreaks in Alberta this season. Fifty-five per cent have been at supportive-living and home-living sites. There were no new outbreaks in this update.
More than 1.3 million influenza vaccines have been administered since Oct. 17, translating to 27.6 per cent of Albertans being immunized. There are also 65,113 more people vaccinated compared to this time last year.
Of Albertans aged 65 or older, 63.7 per cent have been vaccinated for influenza, while 28.9 per cent of children between six months and four years have their vaccine.
Alberta updates its influenza data on Thursdays.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.