Analytics and Performance Reporting Branch
Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit
2020-May-08 14:30

COVID-19 in First Nations People (all Alberta)

Note: This report includes First Nations people living on and off reserve.

Highlights

Cases

Summary

  • There are 82 laboratory-confirmed, and 12 probable cases.

Characteristics

Summary

  • The median age range is 35 years (0-83).

Figure 4: Number and rate of COVID-19 cases in First Nations people by age group.

Figure 5: COVID-19 cases in First Nations people by age group and gender.

Symptoms

Table 1. Symptoms reported among COVID-19 cases

Symptom Count Percent
Cough Headache Chills Malaise Sore Throat Shortness Of Breath Runny Nose Other Fever Myalgia Nasal Congestion Pain Asymptomatic Nausea Diarrhea Chest Pain Decreased Appetite Sneezing Vomiting Dizziness Irritability Anorexia Conjunctivitis Prostration Arthralgia Nose Bleed Total Cases With Symptom Data Available
54 31 27 24 24 22 21 17 16 13 11 10 9 9 8 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 2 1 0 0 85
63.5 36.5 31.8 28.2 28.2 25.9 24.7 20 18.8 15.3 12.9 11.8 10.6 10.6 9.4 7.1 5.9 5.9 4.7 3.5 3.5 2.4 2.4 1.2 0 0 -

Note:
Symptom prevalence based on enhanced case report forms.

Severe Outcomes

Summary

  • Average age for COVID cases not hospitalized is 36 years, (range: 0-81)
  • Average age for COVID cases hospitalized is 48 years, (range: 19-83)
  • Average age for COVID cases hospitalized with an ICU stay is 42 years, (range: 34-50)
  • Average age for COVID cases that died is 64 years, (range: 34-81)

Figure 6: Rate of total hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths among COVID-19 cases in First Nations people

Figure 7: Total hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths (ever) among COVID-19 cases in First Nations people by age group. Each ICU admission is also included in the total number of hospitalizations.This is based on totals rather than current hospitalizations and ICU admissions.

Geospatial

Summary

  • The percent of cases from the Calgary Zone is 47%.

Table 2. COVID-19 cases in First Nations people by zone

Zone Count Percent

Calgary Zone

Central Zone

Edmonton Zone

North Zone

South Zone

Unknown

All

44

1

12

23

11

2

93

47

1

13

25

12

2

100

Laboratory Testing

Number(n)

Test Volume

People Tested

7,174

6,440

Zone Count Percent

Calgary Zone

Central Zone

Edmonton Zone

North Zone

South Zone

Unknown

All

1,659

638

1,694

1,533

834

82

6,440

26

10

26

24

13

1

100

Figure 11: People tested for COVID-19 in First Nations people by age group and gender

Table 5. People tested for COVID-19 in First Nations people by age group and gender

Age Gender
Female Male All
Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent
Under 1 year 54 1% 63 1% 117 2%
1-4 years 125 2% 105 2% 230 4%
5-9 years 90 1% 85 1% 175 3%
10-19 years 253 4% 195 3% 448 7%
20-29 years 647 10% 483 8% 1,130 18%
30-39 years 776 12% 570 9% 1,346 21%
40-49 years 687 11% 502 8% 1,189 18%
50-59 years 546 8% 355 6% 901 14%
60-69 years 314 5% 240 4% 554 9%
70-79 years 143 2% 95 1% 238 4%
80+ years 61 1% 51 1% 112 2%
Unknown 0% 0% 0 0% 0 0%
All 3,696 57% 2,744 43% 6,440 100%

Note: Count represents the number of people tested

Figure 12: Cumulative and daily test positivity rate for COVID-19 in First Nations people.

Figure 13: Positivity rate for COVID-19 in First Nations people by zone.

Data Notes

Data sources

Each COVID-19 case is assigned a First Nations status if they are on the cumulative First Nations Status Registry. The First Nations Status Registry is a listing of all Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP) registrants who have ever been associated with a First Nations group number since 1983. Furthermore, if an individual without ever showing a First Nations group number is on an AHCIP account for which the main registrant has had a First Nations group number at some point since 1983, the individual is also placed on the First Nations Status registry.

The Provincial Surveillance Information system (PSI) is a laboratory surveillance system which receives positive results for all Notifiable Diseases and diseases under laboratory surveillance from Alberta Precision Labs (APL). The system also receives negative results for a subset of organisms such as COVID-19. The system contains basic information on characteristics and demographics such as age, zone and gender.

Recovered is based on the assumption that a case is recovered 14 days after a particular date. For confirmed cases, we used specimen collected date and for probable cases, this is the date reported to Alberta Health.

Information such as hospitalizations and ICU admissions are received through enhanced case report forms sent by Alberta Health Services (AHS).

Disclaimer

The content and format of this report are subject to change. Cases are under investigation and numbers may fluctuate as cases are resolved. Data included in the interactive data application are up-to-date as of midday of the date of posting.

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