Active COVID-19 cases in Medicine Hat down to 100

There are now 355 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 75 of which are in ICU, and 500 deaths.

The province completed 15,644 tests in the past 24 hours.

The provincial positivity rate sits at 8.1 per cent, said Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

She said she knows the measures introduced yesterday will be difficult for many.

“But the health-care system is at a tipping point and we cannot allow it to go over the edge,” she said. “We need Albertans to follow every measure, and I mean every measure.”

She said the restrictions in place will only be successful if they all work together.

“Picking and choosing which measures we want to follow or find easiest will not help us slow the spread of COVID-19 cases.”

On the indoor gathering restrictions announced yesterday, Hinshaw said they are in place to restrict gatherings of a social nature, where mixing and mingling occur and does not apply to service-based visits such as from caregivers, health and child care providers or babysitters.

It also does not apply to co-parenting arrangements or shared households.

She also clarified that at outdoor backyard gatherings, people not from your household are not allowed indoors for any reason whatsoever.

The chief medical officer of health repeated her message that the daily rise in COVID cases as well as the growing number and extent of outbreaks in acute care facilities across the province continues to be concerning.

She also announced Alberta Health Services is continuing to take steps to increase capacity in the system.

“In the coming weeks, they plan to make available more than 2,000 acute care beds and up to 400 ICU beds to be allocated for patients with COVID-19 across the province if they are needed,” she said.

Hinshaw said some will be new beds and some will be existing beds that will be made available as patients are moved from acute care into continuing care beds where possible and safe. Patients could also be moved to available beds in other parts of the province, clinical areas could be repurposed to provide ICU care and “if needed, reducing additional non-urgent surgeries.”

“These steps are being taken to make sure there is sufficient capacity to meet the growing health-care needs,” said Hinshaw.

Visitor access to acute care sites that are on outbreak or in communities under enhanced status. Medicine Hat and the surrounding counties are under enhanced status.

Only one designated family member or support person is permitted under specific circumstances for patients admitted to hospital and in ambulatory care. The same goes for maternity or postpartum units, in addition to a doula or surrogate.

For pediatrics, NICU as well as critical care up to two designated family member or support person.

In end-of-life situations, only one designated family member or support person is permitted and other visitors must be pre-arranged with the unit.

Restrictions may vary by site based on patient circumstance,s operational considerations and ability to maintain physical distancing.

Site-by-site details on the temporary measures – intended to reduce exposure and spread in AHS facilities – are on the AHS website.

On the new measures announced yesterday and questions about how closely the government follows her recommendations, Hinshaw said she has always felt respected and listened to,” and that my recommendations have been respectfully considered by policy-makers while making their decisions.”

Medicine Hat remains on the provincial “Watch” list and is in enhanced status. In enhanced status, risk levels require enhanced public health measures to control the spread and are informed by local context.

Regions are placed on the province’s “Watch” list when they have a rate of more than 50 active cases per 100,000 population. Medicine Hat’s 100 active cases among 68,057 people puts it at a rate of 146.9.

Cypress County with a rate of 294.2 on 33 active cases and the County of Forty Mile with a rate of 263.8 on 17 active cases are also on the list.

Brooks (222.8 rate), the County of Newell (259.5), Lethbridge (190.9) Lethbridge County (273.5) and the MD of Taber (535.4) are also on the list.

All those regions are also in enhanced status.

There are 3,614 cases in the South Zone. There are 656 active cases and 2,919 recovered. There are currently 21 COVID-19 cases in hospital in the South Zone, five in the ICU. The death total in the zone is at 39.

As of Tuesday, Medicine Hat Regional Hospital has seven COVID-19 patients with two of those in ICU. Chinook Regional Hospital has 15, with three of those in ICU. Brooks Health Centre has three patients.

On Wednesday there are 180 schools in the province where outbreaks have been declared. Alberta Health’s threshold for declaring an outbreak in school is two cases being in a school while infectious within 14 days.

Eastbrook Elementary School in Brooks is on the school “Watch” list.

Crestwood School, Prairie Mennonite Alternative School and Medicine Hat High School are on outbreak.

The website Support Our Students is tracking instances of cases in schools across the province. Crescent Heights High School in Medicine Hat and St. Joseph’s Collegiate in Brooks were added to the list earlier this week.

A case was also reported over the weekend at Monsignor McCoy High School and at Brooks Junior High School.

Cypress County has totaled 113 cases – 33 active cases and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 96 total cases. There are 17 active cases, 78 recovered and there has been one death.

The MD of Taber has 213 total cases — 101 active cases, 110 recovered and there have been two deaths.

Special Areas No. 2 has 18 total cases – one active and the rest recovered.

Brooks has 1,272 total cases — 43 active and 1,217 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 12 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 97 cases — 21 active cases, 74 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 103 total cases. There are 22 active cases, 80 are recovered cases and there has been one death in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 910 cases. There are 189 active cases, 714 recovered and there have been seven deaths. Lethbridge County has 305 cases, 69 active cases, 234 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Nov. 24, 2020.”

Read the full Nov. 25 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan confirmed 164 new cases of COVID-19 since on Wednesday, 19 in the South Zones.

Saskatchewan has a total of 7,047 cases, 3,012 considered active. There are 3,998 recovered cases and there have been 37 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

On Wednesday, Saskatchewan suspended group sports and made masks mandatory for indoor fitness activities in its latest attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The added measures start tomorrow and will last until at least Dec. 17.

by Chris Brown

Active COVID-19 cases in Medicine Hat down to 100

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