Active COVID-19 cases up to 105 in Medicine Hat

There are 1,227 new cases in the province today.

Alberta has had 53,105 total cases over the course of the pandemic.

There are now 405 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 86 of which are in ICU, and 519 deaths.

The province completed 16,284 tests in the past 24 hours.

The provincial positivity rate is around 7.6 per cent.

With private social gatherings being the largest driver of COVID-19 spread in the province Justice Minister Kaycee Madu provided details on fines for those who break the rules.

“Depending on the nature of the infraction, fines could be as low as $1,000 per ticketed offence, or in extreme cases as high as $100,000 through the court system,” said Madu.

He added people need to be responsible for their own actions by “treating the pandemic as serious, and so to will be the consequences for not following the rules.”

Indoor social gatherings were banned on Tuesday when the province announced the enhanced public safety measures.

Madu said the number of peace officers who can sanction fines will be temporarily extended to about 700 peace officers in the province.

He added, “to those who refuse to accept the reality of the situation, I understand that this is an extraordinary encroachment on your personal liberty. But you must accept these temporary measures.”

Asked whether officers would be expected to hand out fines at anti-maks rallies, Madu said his expectation is “those who are in violation of the measures that we have put in place would have to be held accountable.”

Dr. Deena Hinshaw encouraged all Albertans to work with law enforcement members and AHS health inspectors who are working to enforce the rules in place. She said AHS inspectors are continuing to face criticism and verbal abuse.

She clarified that mutual support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous can continue to meet in-person with the new restrictions without capacity restrictions as long as physical distancing guidelines are followed.

The chief medical officer of health was clear about the challenge ahead.

“For the next few weeks, every one of us needs to dramatically reduce the amount of contact we have with people outside our own household,” said Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

She added the province is working with the federal government to ensure that when a vaccine becomes available they will be ready to start immunizing those on the high-priority list.

On Thursday, an outbreak was reported at the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital at its 2-North unit which specializes in geriatric acute care after a single positive case was reported.

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 105 active cases among 68,057 people puts it at a rate of 154.3.

Cypress County with a rate of 240.7 on 27 active cases and the County of Forty Mile with a rate of 294.9 on 19 active cases are also on the list.

Brooks (217.7 rate), the County of Newell (185.3), Lethbridge (193) Lethbridge County (265.6) and the MD of Taber (514.2) are also on the list.

All those regions are also in enhanced status.

There are 3,698 cases in the South Zone. There are 634 active cases and 3,022 recovered. There are currently 21 COVID-19 cases in hospital in the South Zone, six in the ICU. The death total in the zone is at 42.

On Friday, Medicine Hat Regional Hospital has five COVID-19 patients with two of those in ICU. Chinook Regional Hospital has 14, with three of those in ICU. Brooks Health Centre has two patients.

On Friday there are 193 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.

In the city, Medicine Hat High School and Prairie Mennonite Alternative School are listed as having outbreaks.

Eastbrook Elementary School in Brooks is on the school “Watch” list while the Brooks Junior High School has an outbreak.

The website Support Our Students is tracking instances of cases in schools across the province.

A positive COVID-19 case was confirmed at Senator Gershaw School in Bow Island this week, and 16 people are now in quarantine.

Cypress County has totaled 114 cases – 27 active cases and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 100 total cases. There are 19 active cases, 80 recovered and there has been one death.

The MD of Taber has 228 total cases — 97 active cases, 127 recovered and there have been four deaths.

Special Areas No. 2 has 20 total cases – three active and the rest recovered.

Brooks has 1,274 total cases — 42 active and 1,220 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 12 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 100 cases — 15 active cases, 83 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 106 total cases. There are 24 active cases, 81 are recovered cases and there has been one death in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 937 cases. There are 191 active cases, 739 recovered and there have been seven deaths. Lethbridge County has 309 cases, 67 active cases, 240 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Nov. 26, 2020.”

Read the full Nov. 27 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan confirmed 329 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, 31 in the South Zones.

Saskatchewan has a total of 7,691 cases, 3,263 considered active. There are 4,384 recovered cases and there have been 40 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

A government spokesperson said Friday that Premier Scott Moe tested negative for the virus.

Moe took the test after potentially being exposed to COVID-19 at a Prince Albert restaurant. He will remain in self-isolation until Sunday.

by Chris Brown

Active COVID-19 cases up to 105 in Medicine Hat

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