Hospitalizations up, 30 new COVID-19 deaths in Alberta, weekly update shows
CBC
COVID-19 hospitalizations are up in Alberta, according to the province's latest weekly update.
There are 990 people in hospital, including 44 in ICU, compared to 964 with 47 ICU patients last week.
Thirty more Albertans have died of COVID-19, bringing the province's death total to 4,104.
Over the last week, 5,549 COVID cases were reported, but this is only cases detected on PCR tests, which most Albertans cannot access.
During last week's COVID-19 update, Health Minister Jason Copping cautioned that transmission rates appeared to be on the rise; wastewater data was trending upwards in communities across the province including Edmonton and Calgary.
Copping hesitated to say if the province is headed for a sixth wave but said the novel coronavirus was finding more opportunities to spread.
Lab testing has found that about 80 per cent of positive cases in Alberta are the Omicron BA.2 subvariant, making it the dominant strain of coronavirus in the province.
Alberta is expanding its second booster dose eligibility, beginning April 12.
First Nations, Métis and Inuit people over 65, Albertans age 70 and older, and all seniors in congregate care regardless of age can receive a fourth dose of vaccine.
According to a news release from the government, it's in line with a recent recommendation from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.
The province is also bringing in another kind of vaccine: 10,000 doses of Novavax's Nuvaxovid.
"Nuvaxovid is a two-dose protein subunit vaccine that does not use mRNA technology and is approved for those 18 and older," the release reads, in part.
Appointments for that vaccine can be only be booked by calling 811 because of limited supply.
City council has approved a 3.6 per cent increase in municipal property taxes for next year. The decision follows five days of debate on adjustments to next year's civic budget.
Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish has resigned from the Peel Police Service Board.
Public health in Yellowknife is reducing some services over the holiday season due to staffing shortages.
Two premiers are asking Ottawa to cover the provincial cost of the Trudeau government's promised tax holiday.
Former Alberta MLA Derek Fildebrandt fist-pumped from the prisoner's box as a Calgary judge acquitted him on all four counts of uttering threats to a group of 13- and 14-year-old boys whom he chased in a truck through his southwest neighbourhood last spring.
Buddhist monks and nuns who live in eastern Prince Edward Island say they were disappointed to hear some of the concerns expressed at a planning meeting this past week in the Town of Three Rivers.
The Alberta government reiterated its plans Friday to move forward on a passenger rail system for the province, with a goal to finish its master plan by summer 2025.
Pat King, a key figure in what became the Freedom Convoy that paralyzed downtown Ottawa in early 2022, has been found guilty of five charges for his role in the protest.
The Ontario government is looking to expand presumptive coverage for kidney and colorectal cancers for firefighters, whose occupation puts them at a higher risk for the diseases.
A Quesnel, B.C. man serving a life sentence for a 2017 Yukon murder will be able to resume fighting his conviction after a panel of appeal court judges agreed to reinstate his case.
A new report says smokers are spending less money on cigarettes in Alberta, while hundreds of millions of dollars are instead being used to buy illegal smokes for a fraction of the price.