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Alberta has surpassed Omicron case peak, hospitalizations to rise in coming weeks: Kenney

Last Updated Jan 21, 2022 at 10:02 am MDT

A 60-year-old COVID-19 patient fights for his life, desperately gasping for air as head intensivist Dr. Ali Ghafouri provides life saving medical care in an emergency situation in the intensive care unit at the Humber River Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. The patient was intubated and put on a ventilator successfully. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Alberta has seen the worst of Omicron when it comes to infections according to Alberta’s premier.

During Thursday’s live COVID-19 update, Jason Kenney said there are early indications the province has hit and surpassed the peak of cases from Omicron.

WATCH: Alberta Premier Jason Kenney joins provincial health officials to provide an update on COVID-19.

“If the virus, if the variant performs an outbreak like it has in jurisdictions all around the world, we can reasonably expect that we may now be beginning the downslope of transmission,” said Kenney.

While the province may have hit the highest point in case numbers, Kenney says a peak in hospitalization numbers is still to come.

“I think we can reasonably expect to see 1,500 or more COVID patients in non ICU beds when we reach the hospitalization peak a little later in January.”

Kenney says 15 of 19 communities where wastewater data is being monitored show COVID trends heading in the right direction.

“But let’s recall that Omicron did not affect all regions of the province simultaneously, so we can expect to see some regional variances,” Kenney explained.

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Looking at current hospitalization rates, Kenney says hospitals are currently operating at 89 per cent capacity.

Health Minister Jason Copping announced Alberta has now set a new record for hospitalization numbers from COVID-19.

There are now 1,131 people in hospital with COVID. The previous record was 1,128 back in September.

Alberta Health Services CEO Dr. Verna Yiu says the province will be creating “Pandemic Response Units” at two locations in the province.

Yiu says bringing in these units at Calgary’s South Health Campus and Edmonton’s Kaye Clinic will help when the hospitalization peak hits.

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Yiu says Alberta has 8,500 beds in total across Alberta with 6,300 equipped to deal with COVID patients.

Eighteen beds will be added at the Pandemic Response Units in Edmonton next week, then 18 again the week of Jan. 31.

For Calgary, 12 beds will be added in the same time period.

“We will only use these beds if we have to, and going forward, additional beds will be opened as needed and as our staff availability allows,” explained Yiu.

“This temporary measure is one of the initiatives that will ensure that our healthcare system can meet the increased demand from COVID-19.”

Dr. Shazma Mithani, an emergency room physician in Edmonton, said wait times are longer than she has seen in at least five years, with people waiting up to seven hours.

Mithani said she is worried, as this wave continues to engulf the health-care system, that people needing treatment for COVID-19 and other medical emergencies could have worse outcomes because of stretched wait times.

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“Not only are we seeing a bigger volume of patients come in (but) we’re also seeing just a crunch with our bed capacity in emerg as well because of what else is going on in the rest of the hospital,” said Mithani.

“We’re trying to be creative and sometimes stretch the ratios and stretch staffing as best we can, but we are certainly seeing an increase in nursing staff and physicians taking time off.”

Mithani said there also needs to be stricter measures to curb COVID-19 spread, even if it is on the decline.

One change she is pushing for is an update to the Restrictions Exemption Program to require three shots, instead of two, and remove the allowance for negative rapid tests.

Additionally, she wants to see a ban on all large gatherings, such as hockey games, and better masking and filtration in schools.

There are no “silver bullets,” said Mithani. “It needs to be a multipronged approach.”

COVID numbers update

On Thursday, Alberta identified 3,527 new cases of COVID-19 on around 11,000 tests for a positivity rate of roughly 33 per cent.

As mentioned, there are now 1,131 people in hospital — an increase of 30 patients from the day prior.

Of those in hospital, 108 are in the ICU.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw also reported on Thursday eight more people have died with COVID-19 in Alberta.

There are currently 64,519 active cases of the virus in Alberta.

– With files from the Canadian Press