Active COVID-19 cases in Medicine Hat down by 10

The city now has had 384 total cases – the 83 active, 296 recovered and there have been five deaths.

There are eight new cases in the city in Tuesday’s update.

The County of Forty Mile is showing zero active cases.

Across the province, there are 20,649 active cases, down 474 from Monday, and 61,934 recovered cases, up 1,804.

Alberta’s total number of COVID-19 cases from the start of the pandemic is 83,327.

There are 1,341 new cases in the province today.

There are now 742 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 137 of which are in ICU, and 744 deaths.

The province completed 16,353 tests in the past 24 hours.

The provincial positivity rate is 8.2 per cent.

New outreach programs and supports are being rolled out in 11 areas of highest infection and transmission. Nine of those areas are in Edmonton, two in Calgary.

“These heaviest-hit neighbourhoods tend to be lower-income areas where people naturally live in higher-density housing arrangements, sometimes with multi-generational families that can make it very difficult for families to self-isolate effectively if needed,” said Kenney.

In some cases there are elderly members at home, making seniors are more vulnerable to infection and many in the neighbourhoods also have English language barriers, Kenney said.

COVID Care Teams will be established in those neighbourhods in partnerships with municipal and community leaders there.

Kenney says they’ll provide “on-the-ground outreach and very practical support.”

“These teams will go right into these neighbourhoods in a safe, co-ordinated and community-minded way to ensure that residents have the understanding, the tools and the support they need to break the chain of transmission in their area.”

The premier said there will be a “massive expansion” of free isolation support to help stop transmission.

The province says those in these 11 areas who test positive for COVID-19 will be eligible for a free-of-charge hotel room stay of 14 days, complete with culturally appropriate food. They will also be eligible for temporary financial aid in the amount of $625 when they have completed their self-isolation.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw said the hospital numbers continue to be alarming.

“As I have said before, this pandemic has not stopped all of the other health issues Albertans face every day,” said the chief medical officer of health. “Babies are still being born, people are suffering from heart attacks and having car collisions. Every COVID-19 hospitalization is an additional stress on our acute care system.”

She said everyone must do everything we can to “help prevent one more person from ending up in hospital – for our health, for our loved ones, for our health-care workers and for the system that we all rely on.”

Hinshaw said that includes not crowding into shopping malls or other retail locations. She said they are legal order and law enforcement can take action against non-compliance.

“We have implemented capacity limits for a reason. It is essential that we limit in-person interaction and gatherings, including those that happen in malls,” said Hinshaw.

“It is critical that you stay physically-distanced from anyone outside your household and this includes any time you are inside a mall,” she added.

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 83 active cases among 68,057 people puts it at a rate of 122.

Cypress County with a rate of 124.8 on 14 active cases is also on the list.

Brooks (165.8 rate), the County of Newell (210.1), Lethbridge (209.1) Lethbridge County (214) and the MD of Taber (185.5) are also on the list.

All those regions are also in enhanced status.

There are 4,594 cases in the South Zone. There are 553 active cases and 3,989 recovered. The death total in the zone is at 52, with a death reported in the MD of Taber today.

On Tuesday, an AHS spokesperson told CHAT News AHS South Zone currently has 19 COVID-19 positive individuals in hospital. There are seven at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, with one of those in the ICU. Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge has 12 inpatients, with three in the ICU.

On Tuesday there are 294 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, Crescent Heights High School is listed as having an outbreak.

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

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

Cypress County has totaled 135 cases – 14 active cases and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 112 total cases. There are zero active cases, 110 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The MD of Taber has 292 total cases — 35 active cases, 251 recovered and there have been six deaths.

Special Areas No. 2 has 32 total cases – eight active, 23 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,318 total cases — 32 active and 1,272 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 14 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 135 cases — 17 active cases, 116 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 138 total cases. There are 11 active cases, 125 are recovered cases and there have been two deaths in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 1,276 cases. There are 207 active cases, 1,062 recovered and there have been seven deaths. Lethbridge County has 396 cases, 54 active cases, 339 recovered and there have been three deaths.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Dec. 14, 2020.”

Read the full Dec. 16 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan confirmed 194 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, 20 in the South Zones.

Saskatchewan has a total of 12,432 cases, 4,204 considered active. There are 8,130 recovered cases and there have been 98 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

by Chris Brown

Active COVID-19 cases in Medicine Hat down by 10

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