Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping and Dr. Deena Hinshaw to deliver COVID-19 update
CBC
Alberta's Health Minister Jason Copping and Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province's chief medical officer of health, will deliver an update Friday on efforts to contain the rapid spread of Omicron.
You can watch the live news conference here at 10:30 a.m. MT (12:30 p.m. ET).
Hinshaw was expected to hold the news conference on Thursday but the briefing was postponed so she could attend a COVID-19 cabinet committee meeting to address growing concerns about Omicron.
The new, highly contagious variant is spreading at unprecedented rates across the country, pushing Alberta to record-setting case counts and transmission rates.
On Thursday, for the second day in a row, the province broke its single-day record for COVID-19 cases.
Preliminary data released by the Alberta government shows 4,000 new infections were recorded Thursday, eclipsing the previous high set the day before when 2,775 COVID-19 cases were reported.
The confirmed cases do not include results from at-home rapid antigen tests, the recommended testing method for most Albertans, outside of those in high-risk settings or who have high risk of severe outcome.
Hinshaw warned Tuesday that she expects the active case counts from government PCR tests to be "just the tip of the iceberg" of all active cases.
Across the province, the positivity rate now hovers around 30 per cent, also a record high for the province.
As of Thursday, 371 people were in hospital with COVID-19 including 48 in intensive care.
Omicron has put a return to the classroom for Alberta students in limbo.
At a news conference Thursday evening, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange announced that the winter break for kindergarten to Grade 12 will be extended to Jan. 10.
January diploma exams have also been cancelled.
Classes will resume Jan. 10, LaGrange said, but decisions on whether students will learn in class or at home have not been made yet.
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