COVID-19 , according to provincial health authorities who also reported Friday that 1,473 new cases of the disease had been identified.As of Friday afternoon, Alberta Health said 686 people were in hospital because of COVID-19 with 169 of those in ICUs.
The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations rose by seven over the previous 24 hours while coronavirus-related ICU admissions jumped by 15 in the same time frame.Alberta Health told Global News that as of Thursday, 1.8 per cent of COVID-19 hospitalizations involved people under 18 years of age.The continued rise in hospitalizations comes as the province’s hospitals are already strained because of a surge in COVID-19 cases during the fourth wave of the pandemic.Alberta Health Services has said.