Alberta has topped the 30,000 mark for active COVID cases.
But Premier Jason Kenney says with a positivity rate of 30 per cent, the government's well aware there are even more cases out there.
He's calling on the federal government for help.
"I'm calling on the government of Canada to help up out with that by taking immediate action to authorize the use of Pfizer's COVID anti-viral pill Paxlavid that was recently approved for use in both Europe and the United States and other jurisdictions," Kenney said.
"We need to use every tool at our disposal and this could be a helpful tool for our physicians and front line staff.
He says the drug can be used by anyone from 12 years of age and over with mild to moderate symptoms at high risk of serious progression to serious outcomes, like hospitalization.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw says Alberta saw almost 13,000 new cases from December 31st to January 3rd.
Dec. 31 - 4,570
Jan 1 - 3,323
Jan. 2 - 2,059
Jan. 3 - 3,013
She says there are now 436 people in hospital with 61 in intensive care units.
Twelve more people died including a child, with underlying conditions, between the ages of five and nine.
"We have knowledge of the impact of continuous masking and staying home if we feel even a little sick and we must make all efforts proactively to limit the number of in-person interactions that happen on a daily basis," said Dr. Hinshaw.
"I know it can be hard to understand why we need to take action when risks seem to individually lower with Omicron. We need look no further than Ontario's experience to understand why. With case counts far exceeding anything we have seen before the sheer volume of cases means that daily hospitalizations are beginning to escalate."
She says the risk to the population is high even though the individual risk appears lower.
Premier Kenney says he'll be meeting Wednesday with the Minister of Children's Services to discuss further help for daycares and day homes.