20 more omicron cases reported as Alberta records 250 new COVID-19 cases, 8 new deaths
PM's meeting with premiers about omicron postpones Jason Kenney's provincial update
Alberta's identified cases of the omicron variant saw a significant spike Tuesday as the province's total jumped from 30 to 50.
Most of the cases, 27, are in the Calgary zone.
Alberta Health said Tuesday evening that two of the cases are of unknown origin and are suspected to be from community transmission. Most of the cases, 36, are travellers and 12 cases are in close contacts of confirmed cases.
The news comes the same day the province's COVID-19 update with the premier and health minister was postponed due to a meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the country's premiers to discuss potential new measures to contain the omicron variant.
Premier Jason Kenney was expected to announce plans for the distribution of rapid antigen tests.
Alberta health officials also reported 250 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and eight new deaths from the illness.
The province's COVID-related death total now stands at 3,283.
The new cases were detected through 6,419 PCR tests with a positivity rate around 4.39 per cent.
Active cases saw a modest decline from Monday's update. There are now 4,016 active cases across the province, here's how they break down regionally:
- Calgary zone: 1,691
- Edmonton zone: 1,198
- Central zone: 511
- North zone: 382
- South zone: 229
- Unknown: 5
There are 366 people in hospital with COVID-19 currently, including 70 in intensive care.
As of the province's latest update, about 78.1 per cent of Albertans have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 72.2 per cent are considered fully vaccinated.