Six more Albertans die from COVID-19, as number of hospital patients nears pandemic peak

Six more Albertans have died from COVID-19, as the number of hospital patients with COVID-19 nears the peak set in the fourth wave.

The people who died ranged in age from their 50s to 90s. One person died from the illness on Jan. 3, but the others died Monday or Tuesday, according to an Alberta Health spokesperson.

The number of people who have died in Alberta due to COVID-19 is up to 3,413 since the pandemic began. That is only up one death from Tuesday's update because five previous deaths were later deemed not to be COVID-related.

Alberta Health reported 1,101 people were in hospital with COVID-19 Wednesday, including 108 patients in intensive care units. Both counts have increased since Tuesday's update, when 1,089 people were in hospital, including 104 ICU patients.

The number of hospital patients is nearing the peak of 1,128 reported on Sept. 27, 2021. But unlike the previous wave, far fewer people are being admitted to ICU at the same time.

When hospitalizations peaked in Alberta, there were 250 ICU patients, compared to 104 in Wednesday's update.

Meanwhile, 3,837 new COVID-19 cases were detected through through 10,005 completed PCR tests. The test-positivity rate is 37.75 per cent.

There are 67,534 known active cases throughout the province.

The data, however, does not include positive rapid test results. Due to constraints of who can receive a PCR test, public health officials say there are far more cases of COVID-19 actually in the community.

Almost 86 per cent of Albertans aged 12 and older have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, while 42 per cent of children aged five to 11 have received their first dose.

About 38.2 per cent of adults have gotten a booster dose.

Of the province's entire population, including those not yet eligible to be vaccinated, 73.6 per cent of people have gotten the jab twice.