"It's a concern": Alberta seeing uptick in leading COVID-19 indicators

Health officials in Alberta say they are seeing a slight uptick in COVID-19 indicators and are “monitoring it closely.”

Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, and Health Minister Jason Copping made the announcement at a previously scheduled COVID-19 news conference.

“Since last Wednesday, there has been a slight increase in our leading indicators: the positivity rate on PCR tests, and virus levels in wastewater,” said Copping.

Copping said data from the most recent weekly COVID-19 update revealed there is more virus circulating in a number of areas, but it’s not a spike seen like last November and December.

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“It’s a concern, and we are monitoring it closely,” added Copping.

“We can expect some increase in admissions over the next few weeks, but we are well-positioned to manage it,” he added. “We are transitioning to living with COVID and getting life back to normal.”

Copping added he doesn’t expect to see numbers rise high enough to put stress on the healthcare system, and no new restrictions will be put in place at this point in time.

“We can expect a further increase in COVID-19 cases in the coming days and weeks,” said Hinshaw, while urging Albertans to pick up free COVID-19 rapid tests.