Two more St. Albertans have died from COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths in the city to 48, according to data from the province.
On Oct. 3, the province reported the active case count for St. Albert at 297, compared to the 302 people who had active cases of the virus last week.
COVID hospitalizations continue to put substantial strain on Alberta’s health-care system. On Sept. 30, the province announced the Canadian Armed Forces, the Canadian Red Cross, and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador would be deploying intensive-care-unit-trained staff to the province.
The military will be deploying around 10 ICU-trained staff to Alberta.
“This team will likely be located at Canadian Forces base Edmonton, supporting the Edmonton-area hospitals, where the need is greatest,” said Premier Jason Kenney during a Sept. 30 press conference.
The Canadian Red Cross will deploy 20 trained staff, some of whom are generally trained and some of whom have ICU training, said Kenney.
“These staff will likely be asked to help at the Red Deer Regional Hospital, which is under severe stress, given low vaccination rates in rural, central Alberta,” he explained.
The Newfoundland and Labrador are sending a team of five or six ICU-experienced medical staff who will be deployed to Fort McMurray.
Kenney said the rate of transmission for the province has come down to 1.02 and new case numbers in the province have plateaued.
“But we are continuing to see growth in unvaccinated rural areas, and of course, the pressure on our hospitals is severe,” he said.
The Canadian Armed Forces will also provide medical transportation if Albertan patients need to be transferred out of the province.
As of Sept. 30, the province reported 90 per cent of COVID patients in the ICU are unvaccinated.
Alberta-wide, data from the province as of Oct. 3 shows there are 20,674 active cases of COVID-19. There are 1,079 people hospitalized, and 257 pf those people are in ICU.
Altogether, 2,752 people have died from the virus in Alberta.
On Sept. 30, the province also announced a new vaccination policy for Alberta's public servants.
All 25,500 employees of Alberta's public service will be required to submit proof of full vaccination by Nov. 30. Employees will be able to submit their proof starting Oct. 15. Public servants will also be allowed paid time to receive vaccinations.
Employees who do not provide proof of full vaccination by the deadline will be required to obtain an accommodation based on the Alberta Human Rights Act or produce a negative polymerase chain reaction or rapid test within 72 hours of every work day or shift. These tests will be required starting Dec. 14 and will be paid for by the employee.
St. Albert continues to have a higher rate of vaccination than the provincial average. Of those aged 12 and up, 90.5 per cent has had at least one dose of the vaccine, whereas 84.6 per cent of the population aged 12 and up are fully vaccinated.
The provincial average shows, of those aged 12 and up, 84.2 per cent have had at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, while 74.9 per cent of the population aged 12 and up has been fully vaccinated.
The seven-day average per cent positivity for the province is sitting at 10.74.
There has been a total of 303,839 COVID cases in the province.
Albertans aged 30 to 39 have had the most cases of the virus at 58,164, with 208 of those being hospitalized.
The second-highest number of cases is 55,250 for those aged 20 to 29, with 91 of those people requiring hospitalization.
Generation X, or those aged 40 to 49 have the third-highest number of COVID cases at 46,616, but the highest number of hospitalization of the three at 344.