Active COVID-19 cases down again in Medicine Hat, up province-wide

Across the province, there are 20,388 active cases, up 321 from Monday, and 51,000 recovered cases, up 1,397.

Alberta’s total number of COVID-19 cases from the start of the pandemic is 72,028.

There are 1,727 new cases in the province today.

There are now 654 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 112 of which are in ICU, and 640 deaths.

The province completed 19,109 tests in the past 24 hours.

The provincial positivity rate is 9 per cent.

A ban on all indoor and outdoor gatherings and a provincial mask mandate on all public indoor places and indoor workplaces take effect immediately.

Other restrictions, to come into effect on Dec. 13 at 12:01 a.m., include places of worship and retailers limited to 15 per cent capacity under the fire code, no in-person dining at restaurants and bars, and mandatory work-from-home orders unless an in-person presence is required.

The measures will be in effect for a minimum of four weeks.

The moves are aimed at protecting Alberta’s health-care system. Since Nov. 1, COVID-related hospitalizations have risen from 115 to 542 and ICU admissions have gone from 28 to 112.

“If we do not succeed in bending down the curve we will see these hospitalization numbers continue to increase,” said Premier Jason Kenney. “And that’s not the conclusion of some theoretical model. It is the hard mathematical reality of the exponential spread of this virus.”

“That means more cancelled surgeries, more delayed health care, more strain on our emergency and intensive care wards, it means more deaths.”

Kenney said the sacrifices caused by previously imposed restrictions have been real and the mental, emotional and health consequences have been devastating and for many will be long-lasting.

He also said he understands that the policies seem unjust to many and is why they’ve tried to balance the protection of lives and livelihoods.

But, he said, creating additional COVID capacity in hospitals “will have a catastrophic on the health of thousands of Albertans as their surgeries and other care is cancelled or postponed indefinitely.”

“If stronger action is not taken now we know that hundreds or potentially thousands more Albertans could die. We cannot let that happen. We will not let that happen.”

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 89 active cases among 68,057 people puts it at a rate of 130.8.

Cypress County with a rate of 115.9 on 13 active cases and the County of Forty Mile with a rate of 186.2 on 12 active cases are also on the list.

Brooks (124.4 rate), the County of Newell (222.4), Lethbridge (261.6) Lethbridge County (249.7) and the MD of Taber (334) are also on the list.

All those regions are also in enhanced status.

There are 4,307 cases in the South Zone. There are 646 active cases and 3,611 recovered. There are 18 Albertans in the South Zone due to COVID-19, two of which are in the ICU. The death total in the zone is at 50.

On Monday, a spokesperson said AHS South Zone currently has 13 COVID-19 positive individuals in hospital. There are seven at Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge, with three of those in the ICU. Medicine Hat Regional Hospital has six inpatients, zero in the ICU.

On Tuesday there are 249 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 Crescent Heights High School are listed as having outbreaks.

In Brooks, an outbreak is listed at Christ the King Academy.

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

Cypress County has totaled 127 cases – 13 active cases and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 112 total cases. There are 12 active cases, 98 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The MD of Taber has 282 total cases — 63 active cases, 215 recovered and there have been four deaths.

Special Areas No. 2 has 28 total cases – eight active, 18 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,296 total cases — 24 active and 1,258 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 14 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 117 cases — 18 active cases, 97 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 137 total cases. There are 30 active cases, 105 are recovered cases and there have been two deaths in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 1,175 cases. There are 259 active cases, 909 recovered and there have been seven deaths. Lethbridge County has 371 cases, 63 active cases, 305 recovered and there have been three deaths.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Dec. 7, 2020.”

Read the full Dec. 8 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan confirmed 183 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, six in the South Zones.

Saskatchewan has a total of 10,597 cases, 4,663 considered active. There are 5,868 recovered cases and there have been 66 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

by Chris Brown

Active COVID-19 cases down again in Medicine Hat, up province-wide

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