Health Minister Jason Copping and chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw provided another COVID-19 update.

PCR test positivity ranged from 20.8 per cent to 30.2 per cent from April 12-18.

Wastewater positivity rates remain high but lower than those seen with the BA.1 subvariant.

Copping called the current numbers "mixed."

"There are increases in viral circulation and hospital admissions, but they're smaller and moving more slowly than we saw in the initial Omicron wave."

According to Copping, the BA.2 subvariant is making an impact, but not as much as BA.1, so far.

At the moment, 1,126 Albertans are being treated in hospital, with 43 in intensive care.

April 12-18 saw an average of seven COVID-related deaths per day, with 4,190 total COVID deaths in the province since the beginning of the pandemic.

The health minister says hospitalizations remain stable, and though COVID admissions have increased, total hospital admissions haven't exceeded the average for this time of year.

Dr. Hinshaw provided some data to demonstrate the effectiveness of vaccines.

"If we look at everyone in Alberta age five and up in the last four months, those who were not vaccinated were more than three times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 and almost eight times more likely to be admitted to ICU than those who had three doses of vaccine. For those age 80 and older, in whom the risk of severe outcomes is highest, those who were not vaccinated were more than four times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID in the last four months and over six times more likely to die from COVID than those who had three doses of vaccine."

As of April 18, 8,664,335 doses have been administered.