Source:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-reports-194-new-cases-of-covid-19-1.6121002
Alberta reports 194 new cases of COVID-19
Hospitalizations increased by two since Tuesday to 84
CBC News · Posted: Jul 28, 2021 11:52 AM MT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago
Alberta public health officials are reporting 194 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Most of those cases are people who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine, said Dr. Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health, who spoke publicly for the first time in nearly a month.
Hospitalizations increased by two since Tuesday to 84. But there are 18 Albertans in the intensive care unit — a decrease of three since Tuesday's update.
There were about 7,100 tests conducted Tuesday and Alberta's test-positivity rate is 2.9 per cent.
Recent rising case counts has created anxiety for some, given officials have been tracking the number of cases for over 16 months and enacted public health measures accordingly, said Hinshaw.
But the threat of the illness is different than it has been, as vaccines reduce the potential for severe outcomes and strain on the health-care system, she said.
Of Albertans aged 12 and up, 75.6 per cent have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine; 64.3 per cent have received both doses, according to a news release issued by the Alberta government...
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Source:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/covid-growth-alberta-1.6120076
COVID-19 spreading faster in Alberta than during peak of 3rd wave
R-value is 1.48, higher than in spring when more than 1,500 cases were reported daily
Sarah Rieger · CBC News · Posted: Jul 28, 2021 2:00 AM MT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago
Health and infectious disease experts say the rate at which COVID-19 cases are growing in Alberta is alarming, as it spreads faster than during the height of the pandemic's third wave.
The R-value, which represents the number of people infected by each infected person, was 1.48 (with a confidence interval of 1.38-1.59) in Alberta as of Sunday, according to Alberta Health.
That number — which has doubled in recent weeks — means 100 people with the virus will spread it to 148 others.
"The current R-value provincewide is one of the highest we've seen throughout the pandemic. So although the numbers are low today, the rate of viral spread is really as fast as we've seen at any other point during the pandemic," said Craig Jenne, an immunologist and microbiologist at the University of Calgary.
"This really is the foundation for what everybody refers to as exponential growth … it is definitely laying the potential and the groundwork for a large surge of viral cases in the coming weeks."...
