Alberta sees 1st flu death as health system deals with early, tough season

One person in the Calgary zone has died from the flu this year, marking Alberta’s first flu-related death of the 2018-2019 season.

Alberta Health Services confirmed Thursday that one person with a lab-confirmed case of influenza died.

This comes one day after a Calgary emergency room doctor told Global News the region can expect to see “many more hospitalizations” due to the virus this year.

AHS said as of Thursday, 1,411 cases of Influenza A have been confirmed in Alberta — 922 of them in the Calgary zone — and 13 cases of the B strain.

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A total of 290 people had been admitted to hospital with lab-confirmed cases of the flu as of Thursday, with 200 patients being admitted in the Calgary zone.

AHS said to date, 944,611 people have received their flu shot.