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Alberta launches COVID-19 symptom management website as Omicron cases continue to climb

Click to play video: 'COVID-19: WHO cautions dismissing Omicron variant as ‘mild’'
COVID-19: WHO cautions dismissing Omicron variant as ‘mild’
WATCH: World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Thursday to be cautious when labelling the Omicron COVID-19 variant as “mild” just because it appears to be less severe compared to the Delta variant. He urged people not to drop distancing and hygiene measures after vaccinations in the fight against Omicron – Jan 6, 2022

Albertans living with mild COVID-19 symptoms can now use a new web resource to help manage those symptoms at home.

(Click here for Thursday’s COVID-19 numbers)

According to a Thursday news release from Alberta Health Services, the site brings all the information that has been available since the beginning of the pandemic to a one-stop guide in one location.

“Following the rapid spread of the Omicron variant throughout the province and the exponential growth in COVID-19 cases, many Albertans calling Health Link 811 are unsure how to manage their symptoms, or if they need to seek care with a positive COVID-19 test result,” AHS said.

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The site includes information on what to do when dealing with symptoms of COVID-19, how to provide care for yourself or another person, when to test for COVID and how to manage prolonged symptoms.

Click to play video: 'Ending the COVID-19 Pandemic'
Ending the COVID-19 Pandemic

Thursday COVID-19 numbers

On Thursday, the province reported an additional 4,869 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours.

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There are currently 39,897 active cases across the province and 1,149 cases of Omicron were confirmed since Wednesday’s report.

PCR testing is no longer widely available, so the true number of new and active cases is likely higher.

The latest health and medical news emailed to you every Sunday.

There were 498 people receiving COVID-19 care in hospital, up from 470 on Wednesday, with 64 of those people in the ICU.

ICU numbers dropped from 72 on Wednesday.

Three additional COVID-19 deaths were reported over the last 24 hours.

Three men in their 80s with pre-existing conditions died. Alberta Health reported all three deaths were from the Calgary zone.

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There have been 3,336 COVID-19 deaths in Alberta so far.

To date, Alberta has confirmed 388,995 cases of COVID-19 and 345,762 have recovered.

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