Alberta reports 422 new cases of COVID-19 and 8 deaths
CBC
Alberta reported 422 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and eight new deaths from the disease.
The new cases were diagnosed after about 8,300 tests, for a positivity rate of 5.1 per cent, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, told a news conference.
"This is a significant decline from the peak of our rolling seven-day average positivity on Sept. 27 when it was 11.3 per cent," Hinshaw said.
The decline in community cases is mirrored in the number of cases in schools, Hinshaw said.
As of Tuesday there were active alerts or outbreaks in 211 schools across the province. Ten schools had 10 or more people with COVID-19 who attended within the last 14 days while infectious.
Hospitalizations are also on the decline. As of Tuesday, 608 patients with COVID-19 were being treated in hospital, including 128 in intensive care.
"While we are headed in the right direction, I want to be clear that this is still a significant number of people in hospital taxing our health-care system," Hinshaw said.
While eight new deaths were reported, four other previous deaths have since been found to be unrelated to COVID-19. The provincial death toll now stands at 3,159.
There are currently 6,090 active infections in Alberta.
Here is how they break down across the province:
Alberta Health Services has begun administering a new monoclonal antibody treatment that was recently approved by Health Canada, Hinshaw said.
Sotrovimab is a new drug developed for treating patients with COVID-19 who have mild to moderate symptoms.
It is the first treatment to be offered to outpatients in Alberta.
Emergency medical services mobile teams have started giving sotrovimab to unvaccinated patients aged 65 and older. The drug is also being made available to patients who have received organ transplants or stem-cell transplants, regardless of their vaccination status.
Math is not Berry Genge's strongest subject, but she credits her desire to solve problems and her interest in how things work for making her want to study engineering. The fourth-year UPEI student was one of 10 chosen in Canada this spring to become 3M National Student Fellows. The honour, administered by the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE), recognizes students who demonstrate leadership qualities both on and off campus.