Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw took the time to talk about COVID-19 variants during the update today.

“These three variants of concern are more transmissible than the earlier form of the virus. The B.1.1.7 (UK Variant) seems to be about 50 per cent more transmissible and the P.1 (Brazillian Variant) seems to be more than twice more infectious,” said Dr. Hinshaw adding, “Each of these variants of concern also have some unique properties. The B.1.1.7 variant seems to be able to cause more sever illness than our original strain.”

It’s been unclear whether other variants have had the same increased severity as B.1.1.7 variant.

So far, she says all vaccines in Canada are effective in fighting against the B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant but she says evidence is less clear about the other two virus strains.

She says that the government is fighting the spread of the COVID-19 virus by introducing Tuesday's restrictions, screening every positive COVID-19 test, and by conducting contact tracing.

“We have now reached the point where if you test positive you should assume that you have the UK variant because of this we are now focusing the efforts of our contact tracing team on the P.1 and B.1.351 variants (South African Variants),” said Hinshaw.

All cases COVID and COVID Variants will be treated the same going forward and all close contacts of COVID-19 cases will be tested twice moving forward. 

For the time being, Hinshaw recommends Albertans stay home, wash their hands, stay home when sick, and wear a mask to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus variants.

April 8th new case numbers:

  • 1,429 new cases of the virus for April 7th
  • 12,187 active cases in Alberta
  • 340 people are hospitalized
  • 83 people admitted to ICUs
  • 3 new death reported in the last 24 hours
  • 2,005 total deaths from the virus
  • Variants of concern make up 44.8 per cent of active cases

Active case numbers in the Central Alberta area:

  • 43 active cases in the City of Lacombe
  • 45 active cases in the County of Lacombe
  • 212 active cases in the City of Red Deer
  • 46 active cases in the County of Red Deer
  • 175 active cases in the County of Ponoka
  • 32 active cases in the Town of Sylvan Lake
  • 7 active cases in the County of Stettler
  • 41 active cases in the County of Mountain View

**Not all cases in the Central Zone have been included.