COVID-19 hospitalizations steady as Alberta reports 26 new deaths

Alberta reported 26 new COVID-19-related deaths Friday —  as deaths related to the illness continue to rise. 

With the new deaths the province's total is now 3,634.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province's chief medical officer of health, noted on Tuesday that COVID-related deaths are a lagging indicator and the rising number is reflective of the extremely high transmission rates from earlier in the Omicron wave.

However, the number of people with COVID in Alberta hospitals may be stabilizing. Friday's update had the same total number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, 1,584, as Thursday's update. Though the number of people being treated in ICU did increase from 106 to 112. 

The province reported 2,086 new cases Friday, detected through 6,226 PCR tests with a positivity rate around 33.58 per cent — lower than the seven-day average of 35.98 per cent. 

The number of known active cases of COVID-19 is now 32,711, though that number only includes those detected through lab-confirmed PCR tests.

According to Alberta Health, 74.7 per cent of the province's total population — or 79.5 per cent of eligible Albertans (those who are five and older) — have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. About 33.6 per cent of Albertans have had a booster dose of a COVID vaccine.