Medicine Hat’s active COVID-19 cases down again

“Now more than ever before, it’s critical that we are all informed by verified facts and informed analysis, and that we are making the best decisions for our individual and collective health and safety,” she said.

There are 24 active cases of COVID-19 in Medicine Hat on Tuesday.

The city now has had 525 total cases – the 24 active, 488 recovered and there have been 13 deaths.

There are two new cases in the city in Tuesday’s update and four new recoveries.

Across the province, there are 8,652 active cases, down 685 from Monday, and 111,662 recovered cases, up 1,040.

Alberta’s total number of COVID-19 cases from the start of the pandemic is 121,901.

There are 366 new cases in the province today.

There are now 626 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 108 of which are in ICU, and 1,587 deaths.

The province completed 8,312 tests in the past 24 hours.

The provincial positivity rate is 4.4 per cent.

As of Jan. 25, 99,814 doses of vaccine have been administered in Alberta.

She said given the scale and speed of changes in understanding COVID-19 and how it behaves, it’s natural to have questions and want more information.

Hinshaw encouraged all Albertans to be thoughtful and appropriately critical of what they see on social media and any other platform.

She urged people to assess the accuracy and consider the source before believing it or passing it along.

“Look for information from a reputable source, which ideally can be confirmed by multiple other reputable sources,” she said.

Promoting content by experts in epidemiology, infectious diseases and public health will help inform people, keep everyone safe and help stop the spread of misinformation, she added.

She also said to check the date of any material you are sharing, as information from last spring or summer may not still be relevant due to an ever-growing understanding of the virus.

Hinshaw said more than 10,000 Albertans have been fully immunized with two doses of vaccine.

She added officials are monitoring the spread and that the easing of restrictions must be done cautiously, saying the health system remains under strain.

“The rise of new variants in Alberta and around the world also makes it vital that we not move too quickly, which could have dire consequences for our health system and our health.”

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 should however be off 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 24 active cases among 68,057 people puts it at a rate of 35.3.

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

The County of Newell (123.6), Lethbridge (118.2) and Lethbridge County (122.9) are on the list.

There are 5,725 cases in the South Zone. There are 362 active cases and 5,294 recovered. The death total in the zone is at 69.

An AHS spokesperson told CHAT News on Monday that AHS South Zone currently has 30 COVID-19 positive individuals in hospital. There are six at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, with three of those in the ICU. Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge has 21 inpatients, with six of those in the ICU. The Cardston Health Centre has two inpatients, and the Pincher Creek Health Centre has one.

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 – one active case and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 117 total cases. There is one active case, 114 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The MD of Taber has 328 total cases — five active cases, 317 recovered and there have been six deaths.

Special Areas No. 2 has 40 total cases – two active, 37 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,361 total cases — four active and 1,343 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 14 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 156 cases — 10 active cases, 144 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 158 total cases. There are seven active cases, 149 are recovered cases and there have been two deaths in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 1,641 cases. There are 117 active cases, 1,513 recovered and there have been 11 deaths. Lethbridge County has 507 cases, 31 active cases, 469 recovered and there have been seven deaths.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Jan. 25, 2021.”

Read the full Jan. 26 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan confirmed 232 new cases of COVID-19 in the Tuesday update.

Saskatchewan has a total of 22,646 cases, 2,665 considered active. There are 19,219 recovered cases and there have been 271 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

Saskatchewan has delivered 34,080 doses of vaccine.

by Chris Brown

Medicine Hat’s active COVID-19 cases down again

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