Everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Thursday, Dec. 30

The latest COVID-19 numbers: 

• Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, announced via Twitter on Thursday that a live provincial update would be moved to Friday because she is taking part in a cabinet committee meeting to discuss the latest developments and trends with the Omicron variant.
• Alberta Health released new preliminary estimates for COVID-19 cases in the province Thursday. 
  • There were an estimated 4,000 new cases reported Thursday, a new high. 
  • This comes one day after the province hit its previous record high with 2,775 new cases.
  • Hinshaw warned Tuesday she expects the active case count from government PCR tests to be "just the tip of the iceberg" of all active cases. 
  • The positivity rate in Alberta is estimated to be 30 per cent. 
  • There are 371 people in hospital with 48 in ICU.
• Daily updates to the government's pandemic tracking dashboard have slowed over the holidays (so the charts in this story will have gaps in data throughout the week). 
• On Tuesday, Hinshaw and Premier Jason Kenney held their first news conference since before Christmas, saying Alberta had seen a precipitous rise in COVID-19 cases over the holidays — with more than 5,000 new cases in a five-day period. 
• As of Tuesday, in Calgary and Edmonton, about one in three people going for a PCR test are positive.
• However, experts and the government have warned that many more cases of COVID-19 will be going unreported since the province changed its testing protocol on Dec. 23 to discourage most people from seeking the free PCR tests through Alberta Health Services to confirm infection.
  • As of that day, the government directed Albertans to avoid getting a PCR test if possible to preserve limited lab capacity for tracking outbreaks in high-risk settings such as continuing care, in response to the anticipated surge of cases tied to the more highly infectious Omicron variant.
  • Instead, it now recommends home rapid antigen testing kits for people with symptoms, except for some priority groups. 
  • People who get a positive rapid test kit result are now told to consider it to be a COVID-19 confirmation; people who are feeling symptomatic are also told the same. They're being told to isolate and notify their close contacts. 
  • Many doctors are urging people using rapid antigen testing kits to swab their throats as well as their noses to improve their chances of detecting the virus early.

Watch | Alberta's top doctor says Omicron cases spreading too fast to ID with testing:

Omicron cases ‘just the tip of the iceberg,’ Dr. Hinshaw says

3 years ago

Duration 1:16

Dr. Hinshaw says Albertans should assume that someone infected with the Omicron variant is in every public place. She said in the fourth wave, the province’s tests caught about one out of every six cases, but testing can’t maintain that ratio any longer.

• On Tuesday, Kenney advised people to reconsider their New Year's Eve plans amid the spike in COVID-19 cases, as well as urging eligible Albertans to get their vaccinations and booster shots as well as using rapid testing before attending gatherings.

The latest on rapid testing, restrictions, outbreaks and more:

• Education Minister Adriana LaGrange announced Thursday that the student winter break will be extended to Jan. 10 provincewide.
• LaGrange said the extended break will give school authorities time to gather additional data to assess staffing implications and the potential operational impacts of COVID-19. 
• Due to the disruption to learning, January diploma exams will also be cancelled, LaGrange said. 
• The delay will also be accompanied by the distribution of 8.6 million at-home rapid tests and medical grade masks. 
• Daycares will remain open, LaGrange said.  
• Late next week LaGrange will provide an update on next steps.
• Kenney said Tuesday that Alberta doesn't plan to follow Quebec's lead in allowing some health-care workers who have tested positive for COVID-19 or come in close contact with a confirmed case to remain on the job to protect hospital capacity. However, he didn't entirely rule it out.
• Earlier in the month, in anticipation of anticipated demand from soaring Omicron variant cases, the province directed Alberta Health Services to allow any unimmunized physicians and staff who want to return to work to do so, with participation in a temporary testing program. 
  • This affected approximately 1,400 full- and part-time staff who are not fully immunized, who have previously been placed on unpaid leave. Testing will be at staff expense. 
• The government is also reviewing whether to adjust the 10-day isolation protocol for vaccinated individuals with COVID-19, Kenney said Tuesday. He noted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently changed its recommendation to a five-day isolation period followed by five days wearing masks in public if asymptomatic. He said there could be a decision on this later in the week.
• Another one million rapid tests bought by Alberta have arrived and another three million will arrive next week, Kenney said. The province bought its own 10 million rapid tests, he said.
• There are active outbreaks at seven acute care sites across the province, AHS reported Thursday. 
• Correctional Service Canada said Thursday that 13 inmates and 41 employees at Drumheller Institution have tested positive for COVID-19. 

WATCH: How to perform the rapid antigen test:

How to use a take home COVID-19 test kit

3 years ago

Duration 1:51

With the province releasing home rapid COVID-19 test kits, Edmonton pharmacist Shivali Sharma shows CBC’s Pippa Reed how to use one properly.

• New public health restrictions in Alberta took effect on Dec. 24. They include:
  • Venues in the Restrictions Exemption Program that seat more than 1,000 people are to be at 50 per cent capacity. For venues with capacity of 500 to 1,000 occupants, 500 people is the limit. No food or drink can be consumed in these venues.
  • Restaurants, pubs and bars are to have a maximum table capacity of 10 people. Mingling between tables and interactive activities like dancing or billiards are not permitted.
  • They must stop serving liquor at 11 p.m. and close at 12:30 a.m.
  • Hinshaw strongly urged people scale back their gatherings, but acknowledged gatherings of up to 10 people are allowed.
  • The tightened restrictions came after Kenney loosened private social gathering restrictions on Dec. 15, scrapping the rule that only people from two households can get together indoors. He said social gatherings could consist of people from any household, but shouldn't exceed 10 people (not counting those under age 18). He also dropped the requirement that everyone at indoor social gatherings be fully vaccinated. 
  • Alberta has had a restrictions exemption program, a voluntary vaccine passport system, in place as of Sept. 20 after suffering through a disastrous fourth wave of COVID-19. A full list of restrictions and exemptions is available on the government's website. 

• The Omicron variant has prompted several post-secondary institutions across the province to return to online learning for the first few weeks of the winter term.
• This includes the University of Alberta, University of Calgary, MacEwan University, University of Lethbridge, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and Mount Royal University.

WATCH | What is the Omicron variant? Infectious disease expert Craig Jenne simplifies what the variant is:

What is the Omicron variant?

3 years ago

Duration 5:00

Infectious disease expert Craig Jenne simplifies what the variant is, and what it means for the latest round in our battle against COVID.

The latest on vaccines:

• As of Dec. 29, Alberta placed last of all provinces and territories in terms of the percentage of eligible people (ages five and up) who had received the COVID-19 vaccine, according to CBC's vaccine tracker. 
  • 72.3 per cent of the province's total population — or 76.8 per cent of eligible Albertans (ages five years and older) — have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
  • 78.7 per cent of the province's total population, and 83.5 per cent of those ages five and older, have received at least one dose.
  • That compares with 82.5 per cent of the total population Canada-wide that has received at least one dose of vaccine, and 76.6 per cent of the total population that has been fully vaccinated. Among those eligible across the country, 86.8 per cent have had one dose, and 80.5 per cent are fully vaccinated.
  • In Calgary, the city's mobile vaccination clinics will continue into 2022. The program was set to conclude at the end of this year, but due to Omicron it will be extended. Two mobile vaccination clinics are currently in use. 

• Starting Dec. 21, the Alberta government announced that anyone aged 18 and older who received their second COVID-19 vaccine at least five months ago could now book a third dose.
• Boosters of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be offered to Albertans 18 to 29 years of age due to a slightly increased risk of myocarditis in younger Albertans, especially males, from Moderna — although the government emphasizes that individuals are much more likely to experience myocarditis from COVID-19 infection than from the vaccine.

See which regions are being hit hardest:

Here is the latest detailed regional breakdown of active cases, as reported by the province on Dec. 29:

• Calgary zone: 9,293.
• Edmonton zone: 6,216.
• Central zone: 687.
• North zone: 597.
• South zone: 471.
• Unknown: 132.

Here are the latest Alberta COVID-19 stories:

The latest updates on COVID-19 in Alberta in charts and graphs: