COVID-19 hospitalizations in Alberta dropped in Wednesday’s update.
As of Tuesday, there were 1,500 people in hospital, down 61 from Tuesday. The number of patients in intensive care dropped by two to 121. Tuesday’s non-ICU count was originally reported as 1,538 but was later revised to 1,561.
Fourteen more deaths, including a person in their 20s in South zone, were reported on Wednesday, bringing the provincial total to 3,804.
There were 888 new lab-confirmed cases on Feb. 14. The test positivity rate was 24.5 per cent. Alberta has 17,674 active cases of the virus.
Meanwhile, in the Central Zone, there were 2,137 active cases of the virus, with 153 people in hospital infected with COVID-19, including nine in the ICU.
Red Deer was at 483 active cases of COVID-19. The city’s death toll remains at 90. The city has had 13,099 total cases with 12,526 recovered.
Alberta chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said on Tuesday that the province is shifting towards the transition from a pandemic response to an endemic response to COVID.
“This is a shift all provinces are undertaking,” Hinshaw said. “It is going to take time and effort to adjust away from mandates and towards personal risk assessments and actions.
“For some Albertans, this transition will seem quick and easy. For others, it will be much more challenging, and for many people it will likely be somewhere in between.”
Some people will remain at high risk of having a severe outcome if they are infected, she added.
There will also continue to be pressure on hospitals for some time.
“As we move forward it will be vital to find a way to respect each other’s previous experiences, comfort levels and risk context, different as they may be from our own.”
On geospatial mapping on the Government of Alberta’s website, Red Deer County had 162 active cases, Mountain View County had 82, Sylvan Lake had 78, Lacombe County had 78, the City of Lacombe had 64, Clearwater County had 70, Olds had 60 and Stettler County had 56 active cases.
The City of Camrose had 124, Kneehill County had 69, Camrose County had 30 and Drumheller had 40.
On the local geographic area setting, Wetaskiwin County, including Maskwacis, had 331 active cases, while Ponoka, including East Ponoka County, had 73 and Rimbey, including West Ponoka County and part of Lacombe County, had 32.