Dr. Hinshaw repeated that the province is seeing a third wave of COVID-19 with a sharp rise in cases among younger Albertans and all other age groups. She says that she supports Calgary school's decision to move older students to online learning for the next two weeks. She announced an extra layer of protection to that announcement by adding, "To complement this decision, effective Monday, all extra-curricular, youth sport, recreational and performance activities within the City of Calgary will be required to either take place outdoors or be paused during this same two-week period. We know this may be disruptive to families, however, by shifting these activities outdoors, they can continue in a lower-risk setting."

The numbers update for Thursday, April 15 only reinforced the need for all Albertans to help reduce transmission in and out of schools. 

  • The province reported another 1,646 new cases with a positivity rate of 9.5%. 
  • There were 1,020 new cases of variants of concern identified. Variants now account for 54 per cent of active cases. 
  • There are currently active alerts or outbreaks in 478 schools or 20 per cent of schools in the province. 
  • There are 416 people in the hospital, a decrease of four and 86 in ICU, a decrease of six.
  • There are now 16,223 active cases in the province. 
  • Five more deaths were reported in the past 24 hours. 
  • Cochrane added seven new cases for a total of 145 and Rocky View County dropped one for a total of 205.
  • To date, 1,032,911 doses of vaccine have been administered. 

Dr. Hinshaw also took time to talk about the AstraZeneca vaccine and the possible risks that it may have. She says that it is important for AHS to be transparent and provide the information so Albertans can make an informed choice. In short, she says that the risk of getting a blood clot from the vaccine is less than getting one if you contract the virus. Hinshaw says if you are eligible for the AstraZeneca vaccine to speak with your doctor about questions and concerns and rely on proven information and not rumours. Go to alberta.ca for more information.