Dr. Hinshaw provided a live update for Tuesday, April 13 but before she provided the COVID-19 numbers she reported on the flu season in the province. 

"This season has ended like no other, with zero reported cases of seasonal influenza in Alberta. 

I know some may wonder if it’s because we didn’t test as much – but actually, the opposite is true. 

More than 122,000 respiratory swabs were tested specifically for influenza, compared to less than 47,000 at this time last year. 

This was also a record-breaking year for the uptake of the influenza vaccine. More than 1.6 million doses were administered – the highest uptake we’ve seen in over 10 years."

Dr. Hinshaw says we are not alone and that globally, the influenza numbers are way down due primarily to the health protocols of hygiene, social distancing, and masks having a noticeable impact.

The COVID-19 numbers are not as encouraging.

  • There were 1,081 new cases reported with a positivity rate of 8.9%.
  • There are 402 people in the hospital, an increase of 12 and 88 in ICU, a decrease of two. 
  • There were 705 new cases of variants of concern reported. 
  • Three deaths were reported bringing the total in the province to 2,021.
  • There are currently active alerts or outbreaks in 453 provincial schools accounting for 19%. 

Dr. Hinshaw spoke about students saying, "We are seeing a sharp rise in cases in school-aged Albertans, as well as those in all other age groups.

While there are no risk-free options with COVID-19, the rise we have seen is not attributed to any single cause, and in fact, is often linked to social gatherings outside school rather than transmission within classrooms.

This reinforces the importance of following the measures in place, not only during school hours but before and after them as well." 

Bow Valley High and Cochrane High both remain under an outbreak status of ten or more cases. 

For the first time in a number of days, Cochrane saw a noticeable decrease in active cases with a drop of six for a total of 137 active COVID-19 cases.

Rocky View County added two new cases for a total of 211. 

There have been 955,725 doses of vaccine administered in the province.