Here is a summary of today’s #COVID19AB update: We have admin 779K vaccine doses. Booking is open for all Phase 2B birth years & spots are available. Pls contact AHS or your pharmacy today. Check http://alberta.ca  for eligible conditions or follow up w/ your doctor.(1/9)
Over the last 24 hours, we ID’d 1,429 new cases of COVID-19 & completed about 15K tests. Our + rate is 9.4%. There are active alerts/outbreaks in 414 schools, or 17% of all schools in AB. There are 340 ppl in hospital, incl 83 in ICU. (2/9)
Sadly, 3 new deaths were reported in the last 24hrs. Each of these numbers is a person. My sympathies go to all those in hospital, the loved ones of those who have died & anyone mourning a death from any cause. (3/9)
We have ID’d 717 new VoC cases. Variants represent about 45% of our active cases. B.1.1.7 (UK), B.1.351 (South Africa) & P.1 (Brazil) have been detected in AB. We are learning more about them every day. B.1.1.7 is about 50% more transmissible & P1 is about 2x as infectious. (4/9)
Each have unique properties. B.1.1.7 seems to be able to cause more severe illness. P.1 & possibly B.1.351 increase risk of re-infection. The good news is the variant we have the most of, B.1.1.7, is stopped by all 3 vaccines. (5/9)
99% of all variant cases are UK variant. If you test positive, you should now assume you have the UK variant. We are focusing the efforts of our specialized variant team on the P.1 & B.1.351 variants, & treating original COVID strain & B.1.1.7 cases & contacts the same. (6/9)
We are now offering testing 2x to close contacts of all confirmed cases: once notified & if you test negative, about 10 days later to quickly ID new cases & prevent spread. We are also changing isolation reqs for original COVID-19 & B.1.1.7 cases. (7/9)
If able to quarantine at home away from others, the 14 day period for household contacts begins on last day of contact. If unable to separate & for all P.1 & B.1.351 cases, isolation requirements do not change. If you need isolation support, including hotels, call 211. (8/9)
New restrictions will bend the curve, even for variants, if we all pull together including limiting in-person contact, washing hands, wearing a mask, staying physically distanced from ppl outside our household, staying home when sick & getting vaccinated as soon as you can. (9/9)
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