Alberta's COVID-19 hospitalizations top 1,300, as province reports 41 new deaths over 3 days

For the first time ever there are more than 1,300 people are in hospital with COVID-19 in Alberta.

The province released updated COVID-19 from the previous three days late Monday.

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 grew by 113 from Friday's update to 1,304, including 108 people in intensive care.

There have now been 3,470 deaths since the start of the pandemic, an increase of 41 from Friday's update.

Alberta Health has not yet provided more information on the new deaths reported Monday.

Alberta reported a combined 8,533 new COVID-19 cases Monday, including:

• Friday: 4,069 new cases (10,378 tests, 39.2 per cent positivity)

• Saturday: 2,633 cases (7,879 tests, 33.4 per cent positivity)

• Sunday: 1,801 cases (4,698 tests, 38.3 per cent positivity)

The test positivity rate for the three days combined is hovering around 37 per cent.

Only lab-confirmed cases detected through PCR tests are reported, which most Albertans do not have access to. The current number of known active cases is 55,685.

Due to the fast spread of the Omicron variant, many COVID-positive patients are not primarily in hospital for COVID-19.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province's chief medical officer of health, said on Twitter Friday that about 58.8 per cent of COVID-19 hospitalizations were specifically linked to the virus.

About 70.4 per cent of new COVID-19 admissions to intensive care units were primarily due to COVID-19.

The quickly rising hospital numbers have prompted the province to announce that two Pandemic Response Units would soon open, one in Edmonton and one in Calgary.

Orientation for staff and physicians at the Kaye Edmonton Clinic unit started Monday and patients could be admitted as early as Thursday, an Alberta Health Services spokesperson said in an email.

The Kaye unit will initially have 18 beds, with plans to expand to another 18 more if needed. In Calgary, the South Health Campus unit could be activated in the coming weeks, but is not set to open imminently.