On Wednesday, Alberta reported 702 hospitalizations, up from 649 the previous week.
Of those, there were 28 COVID-19 patients in intensive care, two more than the previous week.
The death toll has risen to 4,673, up eight from last week.
When asked if now is the time to take additional safety measures to prevent catching and spreading COVID-19, some Calgarians said they don’t want to turn back the clock.
“I’m very happy to move on and get back to normal like it was before, and I hope we all can,” said a man who only wanted to be known as Greg.
“There are certainly people who are at risk and should continue to be careful, but for the vast majority of Canadians we should just go about life as normal,” said Keith Smith.
Blaine Robinson said he continues to avoid crowds but will reluctantly continue to wear a face mask in public.
“If required, then I’ll go back to wearing it. I’d rather not wear it because it doesn’t affect my asthma,” he said.
While some others say they want more precautions as the pandemic continues.
“I honestly think the masks should never have been taken off in the first place,” said Heidi Hennessy.
He added that “for people like us who have low immune systems and who have other problems, this is really dangerous. And it’s not just COVID, but now we have monkeypox on the rise and stuff. I think you should just go into lockdown. I really do.”
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Infectious disease doctors are not clear how Alberta’s new dominant strain, the minor BA5 omicron variant, will affect severe outcomes in the province.
“The big question is whether our hospitalization rate will increase only a small amount or whether it will increase by a very large amount,” said Dr. Joanne Robinson, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton.
For added protection, he recommends that Albertans get vaccinated and boosted with the highest doses available, rather than waiting for the release of newer omicron-specific bivalent vaccines that are in development.
“It could be several months before we have this vaccine. Certainly for people at high risk for severe COVID, it probably makes sense to go now and get the booster available, recognizing that they may then be encouraged to get another dose when the bivalent vaccine is becoming available,” Robinson said.
Alberta has the highest hospitalization rate behind Ontario and Quebec.