Alberta averages 1,650 new COVID-19 cases per day since Dec. 23
Posted December 28, 2021 3:59 pm.
Last Updated December 29, 2021 2:04 pm.
Alberta is averaging approximately 1,650 new COVID-19 cases per day between Dec. 23 and Dec. 27, the province reported Tuesday.
The new data from public-health officials are approximations before the exact numbers will be released Wednesday, Premier Jason Kenney and Dr. Deena Hinshaw said at a press conference.
No information on deaths across that five-day holiday period was released. Hinshaw said hospitalizations remain stable.
The province says the data are approximations until the “surveillance team” can confirm the exact figures.
Hinshaw provided these estimated figures:
- Dec. 23: 2,000 new cases on 11,500 tests (positivity rate: 17 per cent)
- Dec. 24: 2,500 new cases on 11,500 tests (positivity rate: 22 per cent)
- Dec. 25: 1,600 new cases on 7,200 tests (positivity rate: 22 per cent)
- Dec. 26: 750 new cases on 4,000 tests (positivity rate: 19 per cent)
- Dec. 27: 1,400 new cases on 6,500 tests (positivity rate: 22 per cent)
Hinshaw says the positivity rate is incredibly high. It’s even higher in Calgary and Edmonton, she says, where one-in-three people are testing positive for the virus.
WATCH: Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Dr. Deena Hinshaw provide an update on COVID-19 over the holidays.
Kenney warned the data showed the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly across Alberta.
The premier urged the estimated 360,000 adults in Alberta who have not received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to do so.
“I’m very concerned that those people are particularly vulnerable to the Omicron variant,” he said.
Kenney asked Albertans to reduce their contacts by half and says the province is considering modifying isolation requirements in Alberta.
He also says he wants the federal government to send more rapid tests and to approve more tests.
Kenney says that suspending in-class instruction remains a last resort – adding that in-class transmission has been small compared to others.
But adds that protocols could soon be obsolete with staff becoming sick – a decision on schools will come later this week.
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) December 28, 2021
Premier Kenney asked about Brian Jean as UCP Fort McMurray nomination.
Kenney says his focus is on threat on HC system, not on internal politics.
Says it's a lot harder to lead during multiple crises than it is to comment on the sidelines.
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) December 28, 2021
