EDMONTON – While in Ontario and Quebec the situation seems to be improving day by day – or at least, it appears stable – Alberta and Saskatchewan are in full emergency. 

Over the weekend – the data were disclosed only today – Alberta recorded 4,633 new cases of Covid-19 and 22 deaths. In detail: 17 September 1,605 (16,409 tests, 10.02% positivity rate); September 18 1,592 (16,529 tests, 9.76%); 19 September 1,436 (13,389 tests, 10.81%).

With 22 deaths, the province’s total since the start of the pandemic is now at 2,545.

But, above all, admissions continue to rise. There are now 954 people being treated in the hospital – an increase of 43 from Friday’s update. 216 of the inpatients are being treated in intensive care (where the maximum number of beds, including those for non-Covid patients, has been raised from 286 to 322). Of all patients currently in hospital with Covid-19, 82% are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

Active cases crossed the 20,000 mark for the first time since mid-May.

Here is the breakdown by region: Edmonton area 5,615, Calgary area 5,597, North area: 3,723, Central area 3,551, South area 2,085, unknown area 43.

The only good news comes from the vaccination front, which is growing rapidly: in the last three days, 59,009 doses of vaccine have been administered, including 34,595 first doses. Now 81% of the province’s eligible population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 72.3% have had both.

The “boom” in immunizations is probably due to the provincial government’s announcement of the “restriction waiver program”, which went into effect today. As is well known, in fact, in Alberta today a sort of “Green Pass” came into operation: after refusing it for months, last week, faced with the risk of hospital collapse, Prime Minister Jason Kenney decided to introduce it for some categories and situations in which, now, the vaccination certificate will have to be shown (or a negative Covid-test).

Similar restrictions were also introduced in Saskatchewan which on Monday recorded another 519 infections 2 and two deaths. Of the 519 new cases reported, 407 (78%) were detected in unvaccinated individuals, 29 (6%) in partially vaccinated individuals and 83 (16%) in fully vaccinated individuals. Almost 1,000 infections were recorded in Saskatchewan over the weekend: people “travel” therefore at a rate of 500 cases a day. The seven-day moving average for new daily cases is now at 494.

There are currently 253 people in hospital in the province, including 56 ICU patients.

4,672 cases considered active in Saskatchewan (as of Monday).

Saskatoon leads the sad ranking with 1,157 active cases. The northern region is recording the second highest number of active cases with 656 in the north-west area and 570 in the central-north area. Regina currently has 401 active cases. The new cases registered on Monday are found in Far North West (23), Far North Central (one), Far North East (21), North West (63), North Central (53), North East (20), Saskatoon (136) ), Central West (10), Central East (33), Regina (54), South West (21), South Central (26) and South East (19), while 39 new cases have pending residency details.

Also on Monday, 431 healings were reported.

Healthcare professionals in Saskatchewan have so far administered 1,522,709 doses of vaccines, up sharply: Saturday and Sunday, in particular, there was a sharp surge, with 2,334 first doses on Saturday and 2,649 first doses on Sunday, the first time in Saskatchewan more than 2,500 first doses have been administered in one day since last June 20. The total number (not only the first doses, but also the second ones) administered on Sunday also increased: 4,522. The province has not administered more than 4,500 doses (first and second) in one day since last July 30, when 5,308 were administered. Now 718,972 residents are fully vaccinated, out of a total of 1,174,000 inhabitants.

No visitors allowed signage due to COVID-19 at Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge, Alberta (Photo by Graham Ruttan on Unsplash)