By Chris Brown

18 active cases in city

Hinshaw concerned by increased positivity rate, growing COVID-19 variant cases

Feb 16, 2021 | 4:17 PM

An increasing positivity rate and 50 new variant cases of COVID-19 since Thursday are two measures being watched closely by Dr. Deena Hinshaw and Alberta health officials.

The positivity rate on Tuesday is about 5.0 per cent.

“This is an increase from where we have been the past few weeks which is concerning,” said the chief medical officer of health. “It is possible this increase is because of changes in who went for testing over the long weekend, so we will be watching closely in the days to come to see if this is an isolated finding or a concerning trend.”

There are 221 variant cases in the province, an average of 12.5 new cases identified per day since the last update on Friday. There are none in the South Zone.

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Hinshaw said she is particularly concerned about the growing number of variant cases not linked to travel. She added many of these cases are the result of close contact who we have identified through robust contact tracing.

She and her team are actively monitoring the emerging research to see if changes to Alberta’s guidelines or approaches are needed.

They are also watching the reproductive rates and hospitalizations.

Hinshaw said it’s positive news that hospitalizations have continued to decline since the peak at the end of December. The r-value of 0.085 is another positive indication of downward tending case rates.

Despite the positives, Hinshaw said lifting the restrictions on indoor social gatherings – currently prohibited – is still planned for Step 3 of the reopening plan.

She says the spike in the fall was driven by indoor gatherings surrounding Thanksgiving and Halloween.

“Evidence shows that it’s in these social get-togethers where we see the highest rates of transmission,” she said, adding she believes this sacrifice has had the greatest impact in reducing the spread and relieving the strain on the health system.

There are 18 active cases of COVID-19 in Medicine Hat on Tuesday.

The city now has had 541 total cases – the 18 active, 509 recovered and there have been 14 deaths.

There are no new cases in the city in Tuesday’s update and one fewer recovery.

Across the province, there are 4,993 active cases, down 229 from Monday, and 122,554 recovered cases, up 483.

Alberta’s total number of COVID-19 cases from the start of the pandemic is 129,338.

There are 263 new cases in the province today.

There are now 365 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 56 of which are in ICU, and 1,791 deaths.

The province completed 5,216 tests in the past 24 hours.

The provincial positivity rate is 5.0 per cent.

As of Feb. 15, 149,138 doses of vaccine have been administered in Alberta.

Hinshaw noted that the reproductive rate and active case rate is highest outside of Calgary and Edmonton, “highlighting that no area of our province is free from COVID-19.”

Those statistics will also be watched closely watched as they will inform the path forward, she said.

On Feb. 8 the province lifted some restrictions, but the two-week incubation period of the virus makes it difficult to assess the impact at present.

Hinshaw will provide another update on Wednesday.

There are 6,236 cases in the South Zone. There are 344 active cases and 5,811 recovered. The death total in the zone is at 81.

An AHS spokesperson told CHAT News on Monday that AHS South Zone currently has 37 COVID-19 positive individuals in hospital. There are five at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital. Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge has 30 inpatients, with eight of those in the ICU. The Pincher Creek Health Centre and Cardston Health Centre have one inpatient each.

Seven Persons School has been taken off “Alert” status on the school map.

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

Cypress County has totaled 145 cases – one active case and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 117 total cases. There are no active cases, 115 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The MD of Taber has 334 total cases — five active cases, 323 recovered and there have been six deaths.

Special Areas No. 2 has 40 total cases – one active, 38 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,365 total cases — two active and 1,349 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 14 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 158 cases — one active case, 155 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 161 total cases. There are three active cases, 156 are recovered cases and there have been two deaths in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 1,946 cases. There are 211 active cases, 1,717 recovered and there have been 18 deaths. Lethbridge County has 530 cases, 13 active cases, 510 recovered and there have been seven deaths.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Feb. 15, 2021.”

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

Saskatchewan has a total of 26,829 cases, 1,611 considered active. There are 24,861 recovered cases and there have been 357 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

Saskatchewan has delivered 49,841 doses of vaccine.