Active COVID-19 cases in Medicine Hat under 60, one more death reported

Since the last detailed update from the province on Dec. 23, there are 23 new cases in the city and 28 recoveries. There has also been one death in that time.

Across the province, there are 15,487 active cases and 81,780 recovered cases.

Alberta’s total number of COVID-19 cases from the start of the pandemic is 98,269.

There are 917 new cases in the province today.

There are now 878 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 148 of which are in ICU, and 1,002 deaths.

The provincial positivity rate was between 6.4 and 9.6 per cent over the five days since the last live update.

In those five days, 112 Albertans died from COVID-19 and there were 4,488 new cases.

Dec. 23: 1,007 new cases, 15,585 tests, 30 deaths
Dec. 24: 1,191 new cases, 17,845 tests, 18 deaths
Dec. 25: 914 new cases, 14,193 tests, 17 deaths
Dec. 26: 459 new cases, 6,866 tests, 27 deaths
Dec. 27: 917 new cases, 9,633 tests, 20 deaths

“I am pleased to report that while we have continued to see a decline in our active case count over the last five days, it is important to note that part of this decline is due to less people presenting for testing, which is not surprising over the holidays,” said the chief medical officer of health.

A single case of COVID-19 caused by the variant of the virus first discovered in the U.K. and prompted the federal government to stop flights from the U.K. on Dec. 20.

“The good news is this individual did everything they were supposed to do, said Hinshaw. “Following quarantine and other public health measures, and at this point, there is no evidence there has been any further spread.”

She added it’s important to remember the public health measures in place are protective against this variant and following them is the best thing Albertans can do to protect each other.

Following public health measures is also part of the reason numbers have fallen lately.

“These encouraging early trends reflect our collective actions one to two weeks ago. We must remain attentive to the orders in place and continue to follow them closely to make sure that we don’t see a spike in mid-January that ignites a dangerous spread in 2021.”

Hinshaw warned about becoming complacent with the number of new cases trending downward, saying the health-care system is still under significant pressure. She asked people to follow the details and the spirit of the public health orders that are in place, encouraging virtual New Year’s Eve celebrations.

“The new year holds a lot of promise, especially with the expanded rollout of vaccines in the coming weeks and months. Let’s start it on the right path with lower case numbers and reduced spread.”

Hinshaw’s next in-person update will be on Jan. 5.

Online case reporting will be done on Dec. 29 and 30, followed by a break until Jan. 4.

Medicine Hat remains on the provincial “Watch” list and is in enhanced status, as is the entire province. 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 59 active cases among 68,057 people puts it at a rate of 86.7.

Brooks (119.2 rate), Lethbridge (109.2) Lethbridge County (115) and the MD of Taber (79.5) are also on the list.

Cypress County with a rate of 44 on five active cases is also no longer on the list, nor is the County of Newell with a rate of 24.7 on two active cases.

There are 4,939 cases in the South Zone. There are 301 active cases and 4,568 recovered. There are 14 people in hospital in the zone, two of which are in ICU. The death total in the zone is at 56.

On Monday 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 Brooks, an outbreak is listed at Christ the King Academy and Holy Family Academy is on the Watch list.

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

Cypress County has totaled 140 cases – five active cases and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 113 total cases. There is one active case, 110 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The MD of Taber has 308 total cases — 15 active cases, 287 recovered and there have been six deaths.

Special Areas No. 2 has 36 total cases – three active, 32 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,343 total cases — 23 active and 1,306 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 14 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 138 cases — two active cases, 134 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 142 total cases. There are two active cases, 138 are recovered cases and there have been two deaths in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 1,397 cases. There are 108 active cases, 1,281 recovered and there have been eight deaths. Lethbridge County has 423 cases, 29 active cases, 391 recovered and there have been three deaths.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Dec. 27, 2020.”

Read the full Dec. 28 update from the province here.

In the most recent update from Saskatchewan, provided on Sunday, there are a total of 14,814 cases in the province, 3,398 considered active. There are 11,275 recovered cases and there have been 141 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

by Chris Brown

Active COVID-19 cases in Medicine Hat under 60, one more death reported

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