Alberta identifies 20 new Omicron cases, eight new deaths reported

Twenty new cases of the Omicron variant have been identified in Alberta over the last 24 hours.

To date, the province has reported 50 cases of that variant.

NEW:

Alberta sees highest single-day total of new Omicron variant cases with 20 being reported.

That brings the total to date to 50. #yeg #Yyc #ableg #covid19ab pic.twitter.com/0t58U8cVeB

— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) December 15, 2021

Meanwhile, 250 new cases of COVID-19 were reported on Tuesday afternoon.

The new case numbers come after more than 6,400 tests were completed for a positivity rate of around 3.9 per cent.

There are now 4,160 active infections in Alberta — a 66 case decrease from the day prior.

NEW:

– 8 new COVID deaths reported in Alberta
– 250 news cases on 6419 tests (3.9%+)
– 366 in hospital (+9), incl 70 in ICU (+2)
– 4106 active cases (-66)#yeg #yyc #ableg #covid19ab pic.twitter.com/zTrzLiRIP2

— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) December 15, 2021

As for severe outcomes of the virus, there are now 366 people in hospital, 70 of which are in the ICU.

Alberta health also reporting eight additional COVID-related deaths over the last day.

On the vaccination front, nearly 2,300 kids aged five to 11 received their first COVID vaccine dose on Monday.

To date, more than 93,000 doses of the pediatric vaccine have been administered in Alberta.

As for the rest of the eligible population, 89.3 per cent of those 12 and older have received at least one COVID vaccine dose, while 84.9 per cent are fully immunized.

In total, more than 7.17 million vaccine doses have been administered to date.

Postponed live COVID-19 update

The updated COVID-19 numbers came out several hours later than usual on Tuesday and come after a scheduled update, that was due to include Premier Jason Kenney and Health Minister Jason Copping, was cancelled.

Kenney was expected to make an announcement on gathering restrictions ahead of the holidays, as well as provide some information on rapid testing in Alberta.

The live update was postponed once, and then later cancelled as the premier was set to join Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a meeting with the country’s premiers and discuss the emerging Omicron variant.

READ MORE:

Trudeau calls urgent meeting with premiers to discuss Omicron, travel

Last week, Kenney told reporters he expects the province to reach a goal of no more than 173 ICU beds early this week.

“That’s why we think it is the right time for us to potentially move forward with some modest, common sense relaxation of measures for Christmas holidays,” he said.

Kenney said he personally has plans to gather with three family members from three households which wouldn’t be allowed under current public health protocols.

He added that the province would have to be very careful with how it approaches the easing of measures as the new Omicron variant makes its way into the province.

Meantime, Kenney also said there would be some kind of announcement this week about distributing more rapid tests to Albertans, but didn’t go into detail.

Advocates across the province have been calling for access to free tests as testing an entire family can be quite costly, but getting your hands on rapid tests is getting easier, and for some, they hold the key to seeing family as a lot of children are still unprotected.

According to personnel in Kenney’s office, a live update is expected to take place on Wednesday, though no official announcement has been made yet.

Premier Kenney's COVID update will now likely happen tomorrow, according to personnel in his office.

It has been postponed due to the Premiers' phone call with PM Trudeau. #yeg #yyc #ableg #covid19ab pic.twitter.com/EGEtzpG4ZG

— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) December 14, 2021