Record-breaking 31 COVID-19 deaths reported Saturday as questions emerge on virus variants
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Alberta surpassed its single-day record of COVID-19 deaths on Saturday with 31 new fatalities, bringing the provincial death toll to 1,272.
The sobering toll comes as questions emerge over variants of COVID-19, two of which have now been detected in Alberta.
The previous high in daily fatalities was 30 deaths, first reported on Dec. 17 and matched on Dec. 23 and Jan. 2.
The newly reported deaths Saturday contain fatalities stretching as far back as Dec. 6. They include 11 deaths in the Alberta Health Services Calgary zone, including three at the AgeCare Skypointe continuing-care centre.
Since Christmas Day alone, 243 Albertans have died of the novel coronavirus. It’s the deadliest two-week stretch of the pandemic in the province to date.
Since the start of the New Year, 116 Albertans have died from the virus, according to government data. This represents just over nine per cent of total deaths in the province within just nine days.
Cases of the deadly coronavirus remain stubbornly high in Alberta, despite restrictions, with another 989 infections identified from 13,450 tests in a 24-hour span, representing a positivity rate of about 7.1 per cent.
There are currently 827 people in hospital, 132 of whom are in intensive care. Both metrics recorded a drop over the previous day.
“We have seen encouraging signs but the spread is still high,” said Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, on social media Saturday.
“Let’s keep the momentum going by continuing to follow the current measures in place, as well as all other public health guidance.”
The number of active COVID-19 cases in Alberta also rose considerably Saturday, jumping to 14,437 from the 13,628 active infections reported Friday. About 36 per cent of active infections are in the Calgary region.
An additional 4,647 Albertans received their first dose of vaccine for the coronavirus by end of day Friday, putting the province’s total to 42,333.
The update comes the day after Alberta announced its first case of a new, more contagious variant of COVID-19 first found in South Africa.
As of Saturday, there was one case of the South Africa variant and four cases of a separate but also more contagious United Kingdom variant in Alberta.
Each case is travel-related and is thought to carry no risk of further transmission, according to Alberta Health.
The emergence of these variants in Alberta means was not unexpected, according to Dr. Jason Kindrachuk, a virologist at the University of Manitoba.
“They both appear to be able to transmit much more widely than the current circulating strain does,” Kindrachuk said, adding the increased chance of transmission doesn’t come with increased severity of disease.
“The problem with the wider transmission is, of course, if you have a virus that’s transmitting widely, you’re going to end up with more cases at a faster pace, and as we know with more cases there’s more hospitalizations, there’s more ICU admissions.”
The variants will complicate public-health response in Canada, Kindrachuk predicted, with existing measures in place becoming even more pivotal in reducing spread.
University of Calgary developmental biologist Malgorzata Gasperowicz called the U.K. variant of the virus “terrifying,” saying on Twitter Saturday we “can’t afford to have it” in Alberta.
Gasperowicz, who has been projecting future COVID-19 case rates for months, said the viral mutation is thought to be about 60 per cent more contagious than the current strain, meaning its emergence could put Alberta back on a trajectory of exponential growth with thousands of cases a day.
She called for severe actions to control the spread of the variants in order to avoid “a disaster” similar to what is taking place in Ireland.
Early evidence from Pfizer suggests existing vaccine is effective against the U.K. variant, though Kindrachuk warned evidence hasn’t yet been peer-reviewed.
Twitter: @jasonfherring
Twitter: @alanna_smithh
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