LETHBRIDGE, AB – A Lethbridge man in his 60’s is the latest in the community to die of COVID-19.
He was one of 26 fatalities province-wide over the past day.
According to Alberta Health Services, comorbidities played a factor in his death.
There were 843 new cases of COVID reported in the province since Monday’s update with a provincial positivity rate of 8.2 percent.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw says there is still a significant strain on the health care system with 919 people in hospital – 140 of them in the ICU.
Lethbridge reported 7 new cases over the past day, though the number of active cases has dropped by six to 77.
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Meanwhile, Alberta’s Official Opposition is asking the government to provide daily online reporting of vaccinations, inventory levels, and incoming shipments.
The New Democrats say the province’s COVID-19 vaccination program is still well short of the goals promised last month – that 29,000 Albertans would be inoculated by the end of 2020.
Less than half of that got their first shot by New Year’s Day though the latest update from the province now shows 26,269 doses have been administered to date.
Opposition MLAs are also pointing out that on Dec. 2, Premier Jason Kenney promised the vaccine would be available to everyone by this summer but on Dec. 30, Alberta Health Services quietly pushed that timetable into the fall.
Health Critic David Shepherd says the confidence of Albertans has been shaken in recent days due to the international travel of some UCP MLAs and that clear, detailed daily reporting in the progress of the vaccine rollout would be a good first step in rebuilding that confidence.