With so much of the world's focus on the novel coronavirus, many Albertans may have forgotten that we're still in the midst of influenza season in the province.  

That fact was brought to light yesterday (February 6) when Alberta Health Services (AHS) released the latest data for the season.  It shows that over the last week, three more Albertans have died from influenza, bringing to 23 the total number of deaths. 

So far this flu season, four deaths have occurred in the Calgary Zone of AHS.

The total number of lab-confirmed cases of the flu in the province rose to 5,428 this week.  2,167 have been in the Calgary Zone which is nearly 900 more cases than in the Edmonton Zone which has the second greatest number of cases in the province.

There was also a signifcant increase in the number of people in the province who have had to be hospitalized because of the flu.  That number rose from 857 the week before to 994 this week.  359 people have been hospitalized in Calgary since the flu season began. 

As for the novel coronoavirus, there are still no confirmed or probable cases in Alberta.