Dr. Deena Hinshaw to update Alberta with latest on COVID-19 pandemic - CBC.ca

COVID-19 has now killed more people in Alberta than influenza did over the last 10 years combined, the province's top public health doctor says.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw issued that stark reminder during her update on the pandemic, which has now killed 760 people since March.

"It is a sobering statistic that in less than 10 months, more Albertans have now died from COVID-19 than have died from influenza in the last 10 years combined," Hinshaw, the province's chief medical officer of health, said Wednesday at a  news conference.

"Today I want to remind anyone who is in the 20 to 40 age range that this virus also impacts you," "In Alberta to date, more than 32,000 people between the ages of 20 and 39 have contracted COVID-19. More than 380 of them have been hospitalized, and sadly, eight of these have died.

"To put this in perspective, if you gathered every Albertan between the ages of 20 and 39 who has been diagnosed with COVID-19, they would fill the Saddledome in Calgary, the Centrium in Red Deer and the Enmax Centre in Lethbridge."

The coronavirus does not discriminate, and can have long-term and potentially devastating impacts for anyone who contracts the illness, she said.

"No one of any age can take COVID-19 lightly. For everyone of any age, including those between the ages of 20 and 39, it is vital to avoid in-person interactions whenever possible. This includes not having holiday parties or other gatherings in our homes. Instead, we must all look for ways to connect virtually." 

More than nine months into the worst pandemic in a century, Albertans have learned a lot about COVID-19.

On a daily basis, people study the statistics — new cases, active cases, hospitalizations, test numbers, outbreaks in schools, even something called the R value. And the saddest number of all, deaths.

So here's where things sat as of Wednesday's update:

• 1,270 new cases.
• 20,169 active cases.
• 749 people in hospital, including 139 in ICU.
• 17,569 tests, a total of 1,587,574 people tested.
• A positivity rate of 7.3 per cent.
• 16 more deaths, for a total of 760.

The provincial R value from Dec. 7-13 was 0.98.

• Edmonton Zone – 1.00.
• Calgary Zone – 0.92.
• Rest of Alberta – 1.01.

More than 84,000 Albertans have contracted the disease since the pandemic began, with 63,668 now listed as recovered.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Tyler Shandro is expected to provide an update on the next phase of rapid testing at a news conference scheduled for 9 a.m. on Thursday.

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2020-12-16 22:25:00Z
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