COVID-19 hospitalizations, including those in intensive care units, remained stable in Alberta on Thursday.
On Friday, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw Tweeted that there were estimated 1,300 new cases on Thursday, an increase of about 1oo cases from Wednesday.
A total of 16,300 lab tests Thursday showed a eight per cent positivity rate.
On Dec. 30, the province reported 14,555 active cases, and 18 more deaths.
The province did not provide an updated death toll for Thursday. COVID-19 death statistics will not be available until Jan. 4.
Premier Jason Kenney is worried about a potential spike in COVID-19 cases following the holiday season. The premier made the remarks on Tuesday, saying that while the province has started to bend the curve over the last week, COVID-19 numbers might go up in the New Year.
He reiterated that the fall spike Alberta experienced was largely due to gatherings at Thanksgiving and Halloween.
“I am concerned, to be blunt, about what we might see coming out of Christmas because inevitably there will have been some degree of socializing that could affect our numbers,” Kenney said, adding there could be a spike as a result of New Year’s gatherings.
Related:
UPDATED: Failing to isolate: Red Deer RCMP charge long-term care worker under Federal Quarantine Act
Kenney concerned about rise in COVID-19 cases following Christmas and New Year’s
The province did not update its geospatial mapping for community COVID-19 cases.
As of Wednesday’s update, Red Deer had 277 active cases, with 1,150 recovered and 1,431 total cases.
Red Deer County had 81 active cases, Lacombe County had 44 active and Clearwater County sat at 24 active. Mountain View County had 32 active and Kneehill County had at 13 active.
Sylvan Lake had 35 active cases, Lacombe had 30 and Olds had 32.
Camrose County had 18 active cases of the virus and Camrose had 62.
Wetaskiwin, Ponoka County and The County of Wetaskiwin combined had 593 active cases of COVID-19.
The next preliminary provincial update will be on Jan. 2.