Hinshaw agrees to future endemic approach to COVID-19

Alberta reported 2,370 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday.

The number of active infections in the province now stands at 33,879, a decrease of 998 cases from Wednesday’s count.

Including today’s new cases, there have been a total of 501,347 confirmed COVID-19 infections in Alberta over the course of the pandemic, and 463,860 have since recovered.

There are 1,584 individuals in hospital with COVID-19, a decrease of 14 since Wednesday. This includes 112 people in intensive care, an increase of six from Wednesday.

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As of February 2, 89.9% of Alberta’s eligible population over the age of 12 has had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 86.1% has had two shots.

A total of 8,335,233 doses of vaccine have been administered in the province, and 178,621 children aged five to 11 have received at least one dose of pediatric vaccine.

Since Wednesday, 15 new deaths caused by the virus have been reported, raising Alberta’s COVID-19 death toll to 3,608.

During the COVID-19 press conference, Hinshaw also touched on planning for an endemic approach to COVID-19.

“This is the direction we need to move. This is a shift in thinking that can be challenging,” said Hinshaw.

“COVID will not go away,” adding new variants may emerge and we must be ready to respond to new information.

Hinshaw added that once the Omicron wave subsides, the province can shift to an endemic model.

“We cannot continue to use restrictions in the long term,” she added.