No decision on moving to step two of reopening before March 1

“We are being cautious as it is too early to say if this recent increase is significant or but a temporary pause in the strong downward trend we have seen over the past several months,” the chief medical officer of health said.

She noted the reproductive value has risen above 1.0 province-wide, an indication that case counts are rising.

Wanting to discuss positives, Hinshaw highlighted a 92 per cent decline in active cases in long-term care in less than two months, as well as a steep decline in cases in designated supportive living facilities.

“These emphasize for us both that the public health measures have worked and that vaccines can have a tremendous protective effect for those who are most at risk,” she said.

She also highlighted the drop in acute care outbreaks province-wide from 27 on Jan. 2 to eight today and new and active cases in school-aged Albertans dropping from more than 2,000 to under 800 since schools reopened for in-person learning.

When it comes to COVID-19 deaths, Hinshaw showed they have declined from an average of 167 per week at the end of December to 23 over the past seven days.

She said those highlights serve as a reminder ” that we have the power to limit transmission when every one of us limits our in-person interactions and when we all follow not only the details of the restrictions in place but also the spirit of them.”

There are 21 active cases of COVID-19 in Medicine Hat on Monday.

The city now has had 551 total cases – the 21 active, 515 recovered and there have been 15 deaths, one new.

There are no new cases in the city today and no new recoveries.

Across the province, there are 4,675 active cases, down 83 from Sunday, and 124,818 recovered cases, up 340.

Alberta’s total number of COVID-19 cases from the start of the pandemic is 131,336.

There have been 282 variant cases identified in the province, 11 new today.

There are 273 total new cases in the province today.

There are now 324 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 53 of which are in ICU, and 1,843 deaths.

The province completed 6,062 tests in the past 24 hours.

The provincial positivity rate is 4.5 per cent.

Alberta has delivered 173,539 doses of vaccine.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw will provide another update on Tuesday.

An outbreak was listed on the provincial website last week at the Valleyview long-term care facility in Medicine Hat. Alberta Health has confirmed there are five active cases there and the outbreak was opened on Feb. 12. Previously listed local outbreaks at Meadowlands and the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital are still on the alberta.ca reporting page.

There are 6,367 cases in the South Zone. There are 352 active cases and 5,929 recovered. The death total in the zone is at 86.

An AHS spokesperson told CHAT News on Monday that AHS South Zone currently has 34 COVID-19 positive individuals in hospital. There are five at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, with two of those in the ICU. Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge has 25 inpatients, with nine of those in the ICU. The Cardston Health Centre has three inpatients and the Pincher Creek Health Centre has one.

There are no local schools on either “Alert” or “Outbreak” status on the provincial reporting site.

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

Cypress County has totaled 145 cases – two active cases 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 337 total cases — five active cases, 326 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 1,362 total cases — zero active and 1,348 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 14 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 158 cases — zero active cases, 156 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 162 total cases. There are four active cases, 156 are recovered cases and there have been two deaths in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 2,019 cases. There are 214 active cases, 1,785 recovered and there have been 20 deaths. Lethbridge County has 534 cases, 16 active cases, 511 recovered and there have been seven deaths.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Feb. 21, 2021.”

Read the full Feb. 22 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan has a total of 27,797 cases, 1,652 considered active. There are 25,773 recovered cases and there have been 372 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

Saskatchewan has delivered 61,730 doses of vaccine.

by Chris Brown

No decision on moving to step two of reopening before March 1

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