CALGARY — Alberta's top doctor says the government is holding a cabinet committee meeting to address growing concerns about the highly contagious Omicron COVID-19 variant.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw said in a post on social media that she's taking part in today's meeting to discuss the "latest development and trends" with the variant and to determine how to best protect Albertans.
She said that means this afternoon's scheduled COVID-19 update has been moved to tomorrow.
The cabinet committee is meeting hours after Alberta reported its highest single-day increase of new infections.
A record-setting 2,775 new cases were reported yesterday, bringing Alberta's active total to almost 17,400 — more than double the amount from last Thursday.
The Omicron variant is driving rising infections across Canada, with other provinces also setting records.
A new study released in Ontario shows, despite reduced severity of Omicron to result in hospitalization or death, the impacts to the health-care system are likely to be significant.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 30, 2021.
The Canadian Press
