Alberta's COVID updates will be even fewer and farther between moving forward.
The switch to bi-weekly updates was announced during the latest (May 25) update by Health Minister Jason Copping and Dr. Deena Hinshaw.
Minister Copping shared some positive trends for Alberta's hospitalizations.
"We are turning the corner. The number of COVID-positive patients in hospital is down again, and sharply, in the past week."
As of the latest update, 1040 Albertans are being treated for COVID in hospital with 31 of them in intensive care.
An additional 55 deaths were reported in the last week.
Dr. Hinshaw also spoke of the BA.4 and BA.5 COVID Omicron subvariants.
"Both of these have been identified in several other countries around the world. Available evidence suggests these subvariants are more transmissible than earlier versions, which means they can spread more easily once they're in a community. With that said, at this time, neither of these subvariants appear to cause an increased risk of severe illness."
She confirmed Alberta has confirmed its first case of BA.4.
"The appearance of new variants and subvariants is not surprising. This is what viruses do. As we continue to live with COVID we can expect to see subvariants and variants emerge. It is important for us to continue to monitor the virus for new or dramatically different behaviours and we will continue to do o."