Record numbers have health-care system under significant stress, says AHS president and CEO

Including non-COVID ICU patients, there are more than 240 people in ICU in the province.

“That is easily the most ICU patients that we have ever seen in our health-care system and definitely higher than what we’ve seen in waves one and two,” said Yiu.

Yiu added there’s been an ICU patient increase of more than 100 per cent in the past month and that overall ICU capacity would be more than 140 per cent if an additional 106 ICU beds hadn’t been opened.

She said the province can currently handle the ICU numbers, but is monitoring demand and “is concerned at the rapid increase in more serious cases.” ICU capacity can be increased to 425 ICU beds in the province by opening additional unstaffed beds and repurposing other clinical areas as was done in the first and second waves.

“Our biggest current challenge though is staffing these additional spaces and this is certainly more difficult than the first and second waves,” Yiu said, noting physicians and staff are understandably exhausted.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw sought to bust myths that have been circulating among people and on social media during the pandemic.

She said there have been ongoing questions about PCR testing.

“PCR testing has been used for many years and is very specific faster than older methods of identifying infectious agents such as viral culture and can identify infectious illness early in the course of disease,” said the chief medical officer of health.

“The PCR test that we use has been confirmed to be highly specific for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It does not react to other viruses, even other coronaviruses. Studies have shown the PCR test is over 90 per cent accurate in detecting the virus that causes COVID-19 in people at the very beginning of their illness,” she said.

She also said the risk of false positives has been evaluated and found to be extremely rare and that testing is continually monitored for quality assurance.

She added PCR tests continue to be the gold standard and will continue to be used in Alberta.

Another is that rural people are less likely to catch COVID than those who live in big cities.

She said 12 of the 15 areas with the highest active case rates are in rural locations.

“The bottom line is right now you are at a higher risk of being exposed to COVID-19 in many rural parts of our province than if you are living in a big city,” she said.

She said the highest hospitalization rates are in the central and north zones since the beginning of May, and that people in rural areas are 26 per cent more likely to end up in hospital compared to those living in an urban location.

She also spoke to the myth that COVID is only a serious health threat to anyone besides the very elderly and those with certain medical conditions.

“When you look at severe outcomes, 40 per cent of those who have been hospitalized since the beginning of February have been under the age of 50, including 12 per cent who are below the age of 30,” said Hinshaw. She also said 32 per cent of those admitted to ICU are under 50, with seven per cent under 30 years old.

She added there are serious long-lasting impacts by those who have had the virus and it could be years before long-term impacts are understood.

Hinshaw also cautioned people about where they get their information.

“I urge Albertans to be thoughtful and appropriately critical of what you see on any social media or other platform,” she said. “Take a moment to assess the accuracy and consider the source of any information that you read before you believe it or pass it along.” She said to look for reputable sources of information that ideally can be confirmed by other reputable sources.

“By doing so you will help stop the spread of misinformation and help keep us all safer,” she said.

Premier Jason Kenney said he knows “there are still naysayers and skeptics out there” who believe that there shouldn’t have been any public health restrictions.

He said COVID-19 is a very real situation that we’re all facing together and has faith in Albertans.

“I’ve always believed that when presented with the facts, people overwhelmingly will do the right thing to protect themselves and their fellow Albertans especially the most vulnerable,” Kenney said.

Hinshaw added we are starting to see the beginning of the impact of new public health measures. In the last week, positivity rates have remained stable or even decreased slightly in many zones.

Kenney agreed that case numbers have stabilized and transmission is slowing down but still have a ways to go.

He said vaccines continue to be our way to get back to normal.

Alberta is likely to see more than 50 per cent of Albertans over the age 12 with one dose in the next couple of days and 70 per cent of people be could be vaccinated by the end of June.

Vaccination rates will play a large part in any reopening play and that the province can look forward to an easing of restrictions in the “fairly near future.”

He said there is a careful plan in place that will get the province to a great Alberta summer as long as Albertans continue the huge momentum to get vaccinated.

The province will soon be launching online map that will break down vaccination rates by geographic area, said the premier.

“Soon you’ll be able to look up the percentage of individuals who have received at least one dose, the percentage of people fully immunized and the total doses that have been administered in your area by age group.”

To those who have asked why Alberta can’t be more like some states in the U.S. that have fewer restrictions, Kenney said the reason is in the statistics.

He said most U.S. states have had three to five times the death toll of Alberta.

by Chris Brown

Record numbers have health-care system under significant stress, says AHS president and CEO

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