On Thursday, Alberta Health released the data showing the deaths include a four-year-old child, an adult aged 50-59, as well as four elderly people, three of whom were between 70-79 and one between 80-90. Two of the deaths were in the Calgary zone, while one death was reported in the Central, Edmonton, North and South zones, respectively. In the 2021-2022 flu season, the first three deaths were reported on April 30. Along with the deaths is a sharp increase in flu cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions. Alberta added more than 1,191 flu cases between Nov. 6 and Nov. 12, a 134 percent increase in one week. That brings the province’s total to 2,082 so far this season.
Today we are reporting the first flu-related deaths of the season, including the death of a four-year-old child. For privacy reasons, we will not provide additional identifying details. — Jason Copping (@JasonCoppingAB) November 18, 2022 In the 2021-22 season, a similar number of cases had not been reached by the end of May. This flu season, Alberta has already reached 72 percent of the total number of confirmed cases from last flu season. This year, the most cases were reported in the Edmonton zone, which has 891. Of those, 455 cases have been reported since the last update a week ago, making up 51 percent of Edmonton’s total cases this season. The Calgary zone has recorded similar numbers. It has the second highest number of cases in Alberta, with 700. Of those, 417 have been reported since last update, making up 60 per cent of Calgary’s total cases. The Central zone has 176 cases (an increase of 184 percent), the North zone has reported 252 cases (an increase of 250 percent), while the South zone has 61 (an increase of 97 percent). In two cases no zone has been assigned. The number of Albertans hospitalized with the flu has more than doubled in a week. Three hundred and fifty-five people have been hospitalized, up from 146 the previous week. So far, 34 people have required intensive care, an increase of 21. A total of 781,868 flu vaccine doses have been administered in the province since they became available on Oct. 17, meaning 17.6 per cent of Albertans have been vaccinated – a two per cent increase from last week. Of those doses, just under 330,000 have been given to people aged 65 and over. This age group has been vaccinated by 51.4%. Last year at this time, 20.1 per cent of Albertans had been vaccinated, meaning 109,384 fewer people have received the shot this year. Alberta will update its figures next Thursday.
