#alberta ICU

[covid-safer-hotties]

Alberta's COVID-19 death toll more than 4 times higher than flu over past year - Published Sept 9, 2024

By: Jennifer Lee

A year's worth of respiratory virus data for Alberta reveals, once again, COVID-19 is far deadlier than the flu.

The death toll due to the two illnesses, combined, topped 900 over the past year.

More than four times as many Albertans died due to COVID compared to influenza.

Alberta's respiratory dashboard shows flu was responsible for 177 deaths while 732 people died of COVID-19 (between Aug. 27, 2023, and Aug. 24, 2024).

"This is continual evidence that COVID is not just another flu," said Craig Jenne, professor in the department of microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases at the University of Calgary, noting influenza is not a benign virus.

"This is the most we've ever lost to flu, and COVID has still put up many more deaths than flu. So these remain significant viral diseases in Alberta. They remain a significant risk to some Albertans. And unfortunately, and tragically, they continue to take lives at a really unacceptable rate."

While they're high compared to influenza, Alberta's COVID deaths are trending down from a peak of 2,409 during 2021-22.

As a critical care specialist in Edmonton, Dr. Shelley Duggan sees the toll the disease continues to take on Albertans.

"We're seeing people who have COVID and all of the sudden are coming into hospital with blood clots, heart attacks, strokes. So we still are very much living in a COVID world," said Duggan.

There were 3,348 flu hospitalizations, and 6,070 people were admitted with COVID in the past year.

The province counts hospitalizations where the illnesses are either a primary or contributing factor.

Duggan points out COVID-19 is not seasonal but it ebbs and flows through the year.

Unlike early during the pandemic, she doesn't admit many patients to the ICU for severe COVID-related pneumonia. Instead, she treats people for whom the disease has exacerbated other health problems.

"We also have that at-risk population [including] people on chemotherapy, people post-transplant — people really who are immuno-suppressed and are at risk — or the frail elderly who we see," said Duggan, the president-elect of the Alberta Medical Association.

Alberta Health data shows 632 of the people who died of COVID were ages 70 and up, 81 were between 50 and 69 and 15 were in the 20 to 49 age range.

Four children under the age of 10 died of COVID in the past year.

The provincial government's dashboard states influenza and COVID deaths are counted when the illnesses are the cause of death or a contributing factor.

"We still have a significant proportion of people who will die either directly from COVID or having COVID that is going to set in motion other things. So we still have to be cognizant of it."

Both Jenne and Duggan say reversing the slumping vaccination rates will be essential for the next respiratory virus season.

Just under a quarter of Albertans received their flu shot during the 2023-24 season, while 16.9 per cent were immunized against COVID.

"It's going to be very vital that people get vaccinated this year to protect themselves, of course, but to also protect the vulnerable and to protect the hospital system, because we are already overflowing," said Duggan.

Alberta stopped offering XBB COVID-19 vaccines as of Aug. 31, following a Health Canada directive, an Alberta Health spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Vaccines targeting more recent strains have yet to be approved by Health Canada.

A federal government notice to health professionals states that updated COVID-19 vaccines (designed to target the JN.1 or KP.2 strains) are expected to be authorized in time for fall immunization campaigns.

The province said more information on its upcoming immunization program will be made available in the coming weeks.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Alberta is around halfway through flu season but has already seen more cases than the entire 2023 season. At the end of December, there were 10,000 influenza cases reported. Hospitalizations and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions were also higher than last year. Despite that, fewer Albertans are getting immunized. "I don’t think what we should be doing is going into any panic mode, but I do think vaccines are a really easy way to really significantly reduce anybody’s risk of severe outcome," said Dr. Jia Hu, AMA vice president of public health and preventative medicine.

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Tagging @politicsofcanada @abpoli

[screenshots123]

📆 01 Oct 2023 📰 Data on COVID-19 scarce as long-term care homes deal with outbreaks in Alberta

COVID-19 is making a return to Calgary seniors’ homes, with the virus reported to be spreading in a handful of locations — though information on which facilities are impacted and how many residents are affected is hard to come by.

In a letter to families on Friday, management at Calgary’s Auburn Heights Retirement Residence said the care home has seen 50 cases of the virus among residents in an ongoing outbreak — 32 active cases and 18 recovered. Additionally, 13 staff tested positive, 3 of whom had recovered.

“We are following all protocols to limit the spread. But boy, does this one spread quickly and easily even with us following all the proper protocols,” wrote the facility’s executive director.

Masks are back at the facility and mandatory for visitors, but management is asking families to cancel plans to visit their loved ones and reschedule doctor’s appointments unless necessary.

“AHS allows us to have visitors to the community as long as they are masked, however, Auburn Heights is pleading with everyone, if you don’t have to come to the community, then don’t. Just until we have a better handle on this.”

Outbreaks have also been reported at other Calgary long-term care facilities; however, no information is readily available. The province’s online portal on COVID-19 hasn’t been updated since July 24.

Some doctors have criticized the lack of available data as cases of COVID-19 — and other respiratory illnesses like RSV and influenza — have risen across Canada in recent weeks.

“Things are not looking good from my end. There are lots of people in hospital, rising cases in the ICU,” said Dr. Joe Vipond, an emergency doctor and clinical assistant professor at the University of Calgary. “It’s not good. And I personally think that the Alberta public should be allowed to know that. I mean, this is really important information for assessing what the risk is to go out and about.”

[craftygal65]

Pharmacist-led walk-in clinic opens in Edmonton area

Chris Chacon

Pharmacist-led walk in clinic

Image of ribbon cutting of new Pharmacist-led walk in clinic in Fort Saskatchewan. Chris Chacon/Global News

People in the Edmonton area now have another option when it comes to finding health care. A pharmacist led walk-in clinic opened it’s doors Friday to patients in Fort Saskatchewan.

“I think its wonderful, I think its going to help so many people,” said Sylvia Viczko, who was visiting the store.

Read more: A first for Alberta: Superstore opens pharmacist-led health clinic in Lethbridge

Loblaws opened its first pharmacist-based clinic inside a ‘Superstore in Lethbridge back in June.

This one opened inside a *Shoppers Drug Mart in Fort Saskatchewan’s West Park Plaza.

The clinic works similarly to any other walk-in clinic, except instead of seeing a doctor you speak with a pharmacist who assess your symptoms.

“That ranges from treating things like minor ailments — like if you have a bladder infection, you don’t want to be sitting in the emergency for a number of hours, save that spot for somebody who has a more complex issue — to things like managing your diseases like hypertension, high blood pressure, diabetes and stuff like that,” Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacist and owner, Rajan Bharadia said.

A pharmacist can only treat minor illnesses or injuries and anyone needing more serious medical care still needs to go to a hospital. Pharmacists are also able to prescribe and renew certain medications without the need of having to see a doctor.

“If you don’t have a regular doctor in Fort Saskatchewan you, cannot get into the walk-in clinics the same day or you have to go to Sherwood Park,” Viczko said.

Read more: ‘I urge you to get the flu shot’: Alberta mom whose daughter was intubated in ICU

It’s a much-needed alternative, Viczko said, for the city and surrounding communities.

“I have gone to emergency for something that I don’t feel is emergency care, but that’s the only option I have,” Viczko said.

The city’s mayor said she would like to see more open up.

‘We’re hearing from citizens all over the province that they can’t get in to see a doctor, the walk-in clinics are fully booked, go to emergency and they wait 10 hours. That’s not acceptable,” Mayor of Fort Saskatchewan Gale Katchur said.

Read more: Alberta’s health-care problems decades in the making

“Even if it’s not something we can deal with under our scope of practice, what we can do is direct you where to go. Also, maybe communicate with your other health-care providers and that circle of care to help you get care quicker,” Bharadia said.

An option Bharadia said he’s happy to help provide, given the challenges facing our healthcare system.

‘I think that is fabulous, it’s long overdue,” Viczko said.

What about Nurse Practitioners? They’re really under utilized. I have a nurse practitioner who I adore. She’s helped with some of the most difficult times during hospital stays.

[ewnsnews]

Alberta premier, health and justice ministers to join Hinshaw for Tuesday’s COVID-19 update | Globalnews.ca

Alberta premier, health and justice ministers to join Hinshaw for Tuesday’s COVID-19 update | Globalnews.ca

Premier Jason Kenney, new Health Minister Jason Copping and Justice Minister Kaycee Madu will be joining Alberta’s chief medical officer of health for a COVID-19 update Tuesday afternoon. They are scheduled to speak at 3:30 p.m. The news conference will be streamed live in this article post. Read more: Alberta adds COVID-19 measures, vaccine passport in effort to prevent health-care system’s…

[newsupdated]

COVID-19: Calgary company builds ICUs, vaccination pods to ship around the world

COVID-19: Calgary company builds ICUs, vaccination pods to ship around the world

Pivoting during the COVID-19 pandemic is a matter of survival for so many Canadian companies, and for one Calgary business, the pivot is helping people around the world survive the pandemic. The people at Falkbuilt are old hands at turning out pre-made components to be assembled onsite for commercial clients. Since COVID-19 hit, they’ve been busy with more health-care projects, shipping kits that…

[canadianfruitpunch]

https://twitter.com/transki_tanya/status/1389007969908453378?s=21

[image ID:

a tweet from May 2, 2021 from Dr. Transki, @transki_tanya that reads “ICU beds all occupied. That’s the tweet. Oh and #SaveUsFromKenney #fuckcovid”

/end ID]

so basically alberta’s out of icu beds and kenney closed the legislature for the next 2 weeks

@abpoli @allthecanadianpolitics

[panicinthestudio]

@allthecanadianpolitics, @abpoli, @politicsofcanada

This is being touted as a “cost-saving” measure to alleviate pressure on Alberta Health Services, when they are again throwing cash at a problem that they’ve only helped encourage since reopening in July. Instead of refuting the reactionary and denialist hold-outs or accepting responsibility for the rush to lift restrictions amid the rise of the current wave in exacerbating the pandemic, all we get is weak public messaging after a two week absence with Kenney practically saying they’re all out of ideas. One media question directly received confirmation on reporting that we are at 95% ICU capacity in the province, 97% in the Edmonton region.

In the immediate climate of anti-vaccination and anti-restriction protestors; disruptions to health care facilities, patients, and health care workers; as well as ongoing provincial conservative action to reduce funding for public health care in favour of increasing privatization it’s absolutely tone-deaf.

The Albertan government has only now asked for resuming of public and in-person workplace masking, a 10 p.m. alcohol service limit, and “recommending” limiting indoor social gatherings to ten people between two other families and their close contacts as of Saturday.

[united-federation-of-trek]

Kind of exhausting to watch the rest of the world pretend that the pandemic is over when healthcare unions in Alberta are begging for military aid because they’re too overwhelmed from covid cases. Like the healthcare system in Alberta is collapsing as we speak, doctors are starting to talk about triaging, about actively choosing which patients will live and which will die.

My social media is filled with nurses begging people to get vaccinated, to wear their seatbelts when they drive, to limit their drinking, their drugs, to be as safe as possible because hospitals can’t handle new patients.

I know a girl who was only her third year into her nursing degree, she’s full-time in the ICU right now. This is about as dangerous as it can be. Nurses are being pulled in from wherever they can be spared and there are now no more nurses to transfer to the ICU.

But like. For everybody else. The pandemic is all but over. And nobody is talking about this. Nobody is acknowledging what’s happening. And it’s exhausting to watch the entire world act like everything is normal again.

To everybody else; this is what happens when 20% of your population refuses to get vaccinated. This is what happens when your leader decides to have “the best summer ever” and lift all restrictions just as the delta variant is making its way across the continent. This is what happens when your government watches cases skyrocket and only responds three weeks later when it’s too late. I know so many Americans already know this, I know they’ve been through this already, but please please, don’t act like the pandemic is over. Some of us are still struggling.

[lissadiane]

Hey fellow Canadians, as an Albertan who didn’t go to the advanced polls because I was too lazy, who is now quarantined pending a Covid test result with no access to rapid tests because Alberta doesn’t believe in pandemics etc etc we’re open for summer, as long as Ontario can take our Covid patients when our ICUs overrun in the fall…

I guess I can’t vote?

So I would like to request that all Canadians vote NDP on Monday. Do it for me.

Thank you.

Here is a picture of a storm whale I painted today. That is all.

[flyonthewallmedstudent]

"COVID normal"

I get so annoyed hearing that now. The world has changed forever and a day, just like it had post 9/11, post WWII, post Spanish flu (but we forget the distant past), etc. etc. We some how have to move on.

But still not a fan of it being repeated that "we'll have to learn to live with COVID," once higher vaccination rates are up to 70-80% of the population.

To live with it means to tolerate still having 1000-10 000s affected, of mostly unvaccinated or immuncompromised. And then having a massive influx of COVID patients in hospitals as a result of this. Case in point is the Canadian province of Alberta, despite having 80% of its population vaccinated is still looking at an overwhelmed healthcare system.

It's so easy to say that. "COVID Normal", "deal with it." When you don't work in healthcare. (Or don't have small kids, while working in healthcare, who cannot get vaccinated)

For the general lay public, everyone who is affected around you is quarantined at home or hidden away in some hospital some where, on some COVID ward, out of mind and out of sight. When I leave the hospital I often see people not masking up and not socially distancing, and lining up really close to people who are trying to.

I realize even some healthcare workers say the same thing, "we'll have to live with this." LIke we lived with the seasonal flu, for which we did have terrible years where it flooded the hospitals with elderly patients literally dying of the flu. Except that COVID can affect the young and not just affect the young and elderly, lead to their being in ICU on ventilators. We didn't see this to this extent with the flu. And so it's completely changed the way we work. Never mind the PPE. And it's not just a short ICU stay, the average ICU COVID stay is 10 days, that's substantial.

And it's not just treating COVID patients that's changing medicine and healthcare. It's changing it for everyone who is vaccinated and doesn't have COVID too. Ironically, Howard Stern (of all people) who said it best,

He...called out unvaccinated "imbeciles" for overwhelming hospitals during the pandemic. "The other thing I hate is that all these people with COVID who won't get vaccinated are in the hospitals clogging it up," Stern said.

"So like, if you have a heart attack or any kind of problem, you can't even get into the E.R.," he mused. "And I'm really of mind to say, 'Look, if you didn't get vaccinated [and] you got COVID, you don't get into a hospital.' "

Normalizing a pandemic like this is tragic. I'm still angry over the media and governments not doing more to address misinformation and public health education.

[abpoli]

On Dec. 3, 2020, Support Our Students Alberta, a public education advocacy organization, obtained a copy of an internal Alberta Health Services staff memo that states “Since September, 22 students from Alberta schools have been hospitalized for COVID-19 with two being treated in ICUs.”

These severe student outcomes are not included in the Chief Medical Officer of Health’s regular press conferences. This is information every parent should know and shouldn’t be tucked away in an internal memo. The Alberta government has consistently downplayed the severity and spread of COVID-19 in schools and this shows that serious health conditions are being hidden from public view.

When asked at a press briefing by the Progress Report why this information isn’t shared prominently with parents, the Chief Medical Officer of Health referred to data tables halfway down on a “Severe Outcomes” statistics page that show ages. The page has no dates, and is not advertised during briefings, but based on the leaked memo we now know 58 per cent of the hospitalizations for students in Alberta schools have happened in the last 3 months.

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[awkward-teabag]

I'm so exhausted and I don't think people realize just how bad British Columbia, Canada, is right now in regards to covid.

The provincial health office, Dr. Bonnie Henry, ignores science constantly, as does the deputy provincial health officer. They both claim masks/PPE are the last line of defense and not really effective.

They both refuse to acknowledge covid is airborne, instead saying it's droplets. Note that Henry was one of the lead public health responders in Toronto when SARS hit it and she also didn't believe/treat it as airborne. She also still holds onto the idea that SARS, MERS, H1N1, and now covid transmit in other ways rather than through the air.

They both think kids don't get sick from covid and don't transmit it which is why schools are open as normal, some classrooms don't have windows that open (or don't have windows at all), and they've decided against notifying schools or parents if a kid tested positive.

Contact tracing has been scaled back to the point it may as well not exist, which was fully intentional. They also don't consider friends or classmates close contacts thus won't notify them if someone they spent hours with in a room the other day tested positive.

Testing centres are being shut down en masse, the most infamous one was shut down and the following day it had a Spirit Halloween banner above the doors. There's also only 1 testing centre for 550,000+ people in one region of the Lower Mainland, a region that had the most cases in the second and third wave.

There are also no rapid testing kits available in-person or online (unless you have a spare $250+) despite there being over 2,000,000 sitting in a warehouse about to expire because Henry doesn't think they're accurate.

And the government controls access to testing in most areas and will bar you from getting tested unless you lie about your symptoms. Even then, there's a good chance you'll be told to go home and rest for a couple days to see if you feel better.

Vaccines are being pushed hard as the only thing needed and that if people have two shots, they don't need to wear masks. It was only recently the province even admitted breakthrough infections and hospitalizations were even a thing despite it being known for weeks/months elsewhere in the world.

Hospital capacities are over 100% with extreme staff shortages but Henry, Dix, and Gustafson still decided to get rid of nearly all restrictions.

N95 mask usage is being discouraged with the government saying only surgical masks are needed. Even nurses aren't allowed to use N95 masks or have proper PPE.

The government is no longer reporting on certain numbers and has been caught lying about and omitting numbers time and again thanks to brave individuals who leaked the actual documents and those who spend their days comparing multiple sources to find the actual number.

The government would also rather fire nurses and other healthcare workers despite all the shortages out there (3 nurses a shift when it was supposed to be 24, nurses working 24h/shift to have a modicum of coverage, nurses being mandated to not have breaks despite working 12-24h, etc) so healthcare workers are effectively muzzled.

Film and photography in hospitals is also not allowed.

Interactions with the press are done via phone calls that the government controls and reporters are limited to one question and one follow-up question.

And so much more.

People are dying in hospitals because there's not enough staff and people are having their surgeries canceled because there's not enough staff and/or ICU beds so people who could have survived now have a fatal inoperable illness and only months left to live.

If you think Alberta and Ontario are failing in their covid response, I beg you to look at BC's response and what those who live here are saying, especially those who are marginalized. Normally I would not suggest twitter, but the #bcpoli and #bced hashtags are full of people across the province who are suffering under the lack of covid response.

And no, these aren't elected officials. The office of the Provincial Health Officer is promoted, not elected. British Columbians had no say in who we wanted in charge of provincial health.

[andrewbeha]

My precious dad today in the ICU unit in Edmonton Alberta at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. He’s desperately trying to go back home to Bc #share #picoftheday #instapic #2022 #hospital (at Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ7wgFCPfD1/?utm_medium=tumblr

[omg-on-a-budget]

Government funded propaganda in Canada

CBC receives an annual subsidy of around $1.2 Billion Dollars from the Canadian taxpayer via government.

[merelygifted]

(via Alberta reverses hands-off approach to Covid to tackle ‘crisis of unvaccinated’ | Canada | The Guardian)

Alberta’s premier has announced sweeping new restrictions to combat the spread of the coronavirus, admitting the Canadian province was gripped by a “crisis of the unvaccinated”.

The new measures marked a major reversal from Jason Kenney’s hands-off approach to the pandemic previously, and come amid warnings from frontline medical workers that the province’s healthcare system is on the verge of collapse.

Kenney admitted as much when he outlined the province’s new restrictions, telling the public that Alberta may run out of intensive-care beds and staff to care for ICU patients within 10 days.

Alberta currently has the worst coronavirus outbreak in Canada.

Kenney, whose government consists of moderate and far-right conservatives, has previously resisted vaccine passport systems, citing privacy concerns. But on Wednesday evening, he admitted he had little choice.

“The government’s first obligation must be to avoid large numbers of preventable deaths. We must deal with the reality that we are facing. We cannot wish it away,” he said. “Morally, ethically and legally, the protection of life must be our paramount concern.”

Beginning late this month, Albertans must show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test for restaurants, bars and indoor organized events. Businesses that choose not to ask for vaccination status will have a separate, more strict set of regulations they must follow. For example, if restaurants opt out of the vaccine passport system, they must close their indoor dining rooms and limit outdoor service to tables of six people, all of whom must be from the same household.

“No one will be compelled to get vaccinated against their wishes, and a negative test option will be offered as an alternative,” Kenney said. “But with unvaccinated patients overwhelming our hospitals, this is now the only responsible choice that we have.”

The rules apply to anyone above the age of 12.  ...