Two more people have died from COVID-19 in the St. Albert area, according to the province.
Data, current as of Feb. 6, reported a St. Albert resident and a Sturgeon County resident have died from the virus.
This brought the total number of COVID-related deaths in St. Albert to 61, and the total number of deaths in the county to 17.
Data from the province showed confirmed active cases in St. Albert had dropped to 470 reported on Monday, from 508 cases reported on Thursday.
The province reported Sturgeon County COVID cases had also dropped, with 209 active cases reported Monday, compared to 231 reported last week.
Data from the province indicated a slight increase in active cases of the virus in Morinville, up to 71 cases reported on Monday from 67 cases reported Thursday. The number of people who have died from COVID in Morinville remained at 14.
Provincial data current from Feb. 6, showed an increase in ICU cases. The province reported 118 people in ICU with COVID — an increase of six since last week.
COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped to 1,542 reported on Monday, down from the 1,584 reported on Thursday.
Active COVID cases in the province also decreased. Alberta-wide COVID cases dropped to 30,094 reported on Monday, down from 33,879 reported Thursday.
The positivity rate remained high at 34.67 per cent compared to 36.35 reported last week.
During a social media post on Feb.4, Premier Jason Kenney announced the COVID Cabinet Committee would approve a plan for the careful lifting of public-health measures, beginning with the restriction exemption program (REP).
The announcement to lift the REP was set to take place on Tuesday night at 5 p.m., after the Gazette's press deadline.
Kenney said on Friday the REP program has done its job, but the power of vaccines to reduce transmission and infection against the Omicron variant has declined significantly.
“The rationale for the proof of vaccination programs like Alberta's REP is not as strong today as when we introduced it in September. As COVID changes, our response to it must change as well,” he said.
Later this month, said Kenney, the province will lay out a simple phased plan to remove almost all public-health restrictions, “As long as we see a trend of declining pressure on our hospitals,” he continued.
Kenney said he knows there will be opposition to the plan and some people will think the province should chase a policy of COVID zero.
“But friends, after two years of this, we simply cannot continue to rely on the blunt instrument of damaging restrictions as a primary tool to cope with a disease that will likely be with us for the rest of our lives.
“We must find a way to get our lives back to normal.”
