By Chris Brown

No timeline for easing more restrictions

No new COVID-19 cases in Medicine Hat, active cases down to 35

Jan 19, 2021 | 3:59 PM

As Albertans swarm to salons and other personal and wellness services that reopened Monday, Dr. Deena Hinshaw could not say when more restrictions will be eased.

“Our health system is still under severe strain with 740 people still in hospital. This continues to impact our ability to deliver care not only for COVID-19 but all the other health needs Albertans have,’ said Alberta’s chief medical officer of health.

She added everyone must continue supporting each other and doing everything possible to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and to protect our health system for a little while longer.

“The more successful we can be at this reduction, the sooner we are in a position where we can consider safely and slowly relaxing other measures in the days and weeks ahead.”

There are 35 active cases of COVID-19 in Medicine Hat on Tuesday.

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The city now has had 516 total cases – the 35 active, 470 recovered and there have been 11 deaths.

There are zero new cases in the city in Tuesday’s update and one recovery.

Across the province, there are 11,096 active cases, down 827 from Monday, and 105,208 recovered cases, up 1,267.

Alberta’s total number of COVID-19 cases from the start of the pandemic is 117,767.

There are 456 new cases in the province today.

There are now 740 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 119 of which are in ICU, and 1,463 deaths.

The province completed 8,258 tests in the past 24 hours.

The provincial positivity rate is 5.6 per cent.

As of Jan. 18, 92,315 doses of vaccine have been administered in Alberta.

“Our positivity rate is declining but it is still well above the one-to-three per cent we saw for most of the summer and the fall,” said Hinshaw.

She added testing numbers overall are declining compared to last month. She said there could be many factors and one might be fewer people getting sick and needing to be tested, and urged anyone with symptoms to stay home and book an appointment to be tested as soon as possible.

She also asked for patience from people regarding vaccines – both first dose and second dose – as Pfizer announced on Tuesday that none of its vaccine will be delivered to Canada next week.

She said second dose vaccines for high-risk individuals and other who received their first dose is the top priority.

Only 171,093 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will arrive in Canada over the next two weeks, instead of the 417,300 doses previously expected.

Hinshaw said Alberta has identified 12 cases of the COVID variant originally identified in the U.K. and two of the variant originally identified in South Africa. She added there is so far no evidence of community spread.

She also recommended against non-essential travel and that people who do travel follow all safety precautions and quarantine guidelines upon return.

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

Medicine Hat and the entire province remains in enhanced status, in which risk levels require enhanced public health measures to control the spread and are informed by local context.

Medicine Hat remains on the provincial “Watch” list.

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 35 active cases among 68,057 people puts it at a rate of 51.4.

The County of Newell (86.5), Lethbridge (142.4) and Lethbridge County (99.1) are also on the list.

Brooks, Cypress County, the County of Forty Mile and the MD of Taber are no longer on the “Watch” list.

There are 5,558 cases in the South Zone. There are 407 active cases and 5,085 recovered. The death total in the zone is at 66.

An AHS spokesperson told CHAT News on Monday that the AHS South Zone had had 27 COVID-19 positive individuals in hospital. At the time there were nine at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, with three of those in the ICU. Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge had 16 inpatients, with two of those in the ICU. The Cardston Health Centre and Pincher Creek Health Centre had one inpatient each.

Seven Persons School is on “Alert” status, with two positive cases. One was confirmed on Jan. 17 and one on Jan. 15. Students and staff have been identified as close contacts and placed into quarantine.

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

Cypress County has totaled 144 cases – three active cases and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 116 total cases. There are two active cases, 112 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The MD of Taber has 325 total cases — eight active cases, 311 recovered and there have been six deaths.

Special Areas No. 2 has 39 total cases – four active, 34 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,361 total cases — eight active and 1,339 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 14 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 152 cases — seven active cases, 143 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 155 total cases. There are nine active cases, 144 are recovered cases and there have been two deaths in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 1,592 cases. There are 141 active cases, 1,441 recovered and there have been 10 deaths. Lethbridge County has 487 cases, 25 active cases, 455 recovered and there have been seven deaths.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Jan. 18, 2021.”

Read the full Jan. 19 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan confirmed 309 new cases of COVID-19 in the Tuesday update.

Saskatchewan has a total of 20,871 cases, 4,156 considered active. There are 16,490 recovered cases and there have been 225 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

Saskatchewan has delivered 24,575 doses of vaccine.