Alberta's COVID death toll up by 36 since last week, with 177 more hospitalizations

Another 36Albertans have died from COVID, according to the latest weekly data released by the province on Thursday.

That brings the death toll for the current season to 306.

The latest data also shows an additional 177 people were hospitalized for COVID, including 14 admitted to intensive care units (ICU).

In total, there have now been 2,652 hospitalizations this season, including 152admissions to ICU.

Admissions do not include patients with "incidental" cases of COVID-19 admitted to hospital/ICU for other reasons.

Alberta Health says the deaths include those "resulting from a clinically compatible illness in a lab-confirmed COVID-19 case, unless there is a clear alternative cause of death identified (e.g. trauma, poisoning, drug overdose, etc.)"

These numbers represent the difference between hospitalizations and deaths in the province's most recent weekly report compared to the report from the week before, forthe 2023-24 respiratory virus tracking season.

The season runs from Aug. 27, 2023, to Aug. 24, 2024.

Age breakdown and data notes

Older people tend to be the most vulnerable to severe outcomes from COVID, but younger people can be affected, too.

The table below breaks down the total number of hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths in the current respiratory-virus season, by age range.

You'll also find the population-adjusted rate (per 100,000 people) for each age range.

Thisdata all comes from the provincial government's respiratory virus dashboard, which is updated weekly.

There are often delays in reporting, however, meaning not all deaths and hospitalizations that actually happened during the latest weekly reporting period are included.

Each weekly report typically includes severe outcomes that occurred in prior weeks but were only just added to the data.

For more on why, see this story:

• Alberta's new COVID stats page can be confusing. Here are the key numbers and what they mean.