Hinshaw says COVID-19 variant cases rising, but measures are slowing the spread

“In the past six weeks, the percentage of all of our cases has risen somewhat from about three per cent of all active cases in late January to about nine per cent of active cases today,” said Hinshaw. “Having said that, in other jurisdictions they have seen a much more rapid growth of variants of concern as a proportion of all COVID cases, going from three to four per cent to well over half of all cases in just six weeks.

“This means that our health measures, both the overall restrictions as well as the targeted measures for variant cases, are working to slow the growth and if we continue to work together we can continue to limit the spread,” said the chief medical officer of health.

Alberta began taking appointments this morning for the AstraZeneca vaccine, making it available for those born in 1957.

Hinshaw says as of 2:30 p.m. more than 11,500 Albertans had booked appointments.

Appointments are available in all zones and at 8 a.m. Thursday will be open to all Albertans born in 1958 and First Nations and Metis people born in 1973.

She urged everyone eligible to get the vaccine to do so and continue to follow public health guidelines.

She also thanked the Alberta Health Services team behind the “mammoth” rollout of the vaccines.

There are 12 active cases of COVID-19 in Medicine Hat on Wednesday.

The city now has had 561 total cases – the 12 active, 532 recovered and there have been 17 deaths.

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

Across the province, there are 4,463 active cases, down nine from Tuesday, and 130,382 recovered cases, up 404.

Alberta’s total number of COVID-19 cases from the start of the pandemic is 136,773.

There have been 734 variant cases identified in the province, 47 new today.

There are 399 total new cases in the province today.

There are now 254 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 37 of which are in ICU, and 1,928 deaths.

The province completed 10,414 tests in the past 24 hours.

The provincial positivity rate is 3.7 per cent.

Alberta has delivered 308,962 doses of vaccine.

Hinshaw’s next update will be Thursday afternoon.

An outbreak is listed on the provincial website at the Valleyview long-term care facility in Medicine Hat. The outbreak was opened on Feb. 12. It’s the only local outbreak currently listed.

There are 6,822 cases in the South Zone. There are 396 active cases and 6,329 recovered. The death total in the zone is at 97.

An AHS spokesperson told CHAT News on Monday that AHS South Zone currently has 34 COVID-19 positive individuals in hospital. There are 24 at Chinook Regional Hospital, with eight of those in the ICU. Medicine Hat Regional Hospital has five inpatients, with none in the ICU. The Cardston Health Centre also has five inpatients.

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

An individual from Ross Glen School has tested positive for COVID-19. Some students and staff have been directed to quarantine for a specified period of time and all close contacts have been identified and are also in quarantine.

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

Cypress County has totaled 146 cases – one active case and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 119 total cases. There are two active cases, 115 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The MD of Taber has 341 total cases — four active cases, 331 recovered and there have been six deaths.

Special Areas No. 2 has 42 total cases – two active cases, 39 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,363 total cases — two active cases and 1,347 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 14 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 160 cases — one active case, 157 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 163 total cases. There is one active case, 159 are recovered cases and there have been three deaths in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 2,367 cases. There are 306 active cases, 2,037 recovered and there have been 24 deaths. Lethbridge County has 553 cases, 11 active cases, 535 recovered and there have been seven deaths.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day March 9, 2021.”

Read the full March 10 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan has a total of 30,029 cases, 1,384 considered active. There are 28,244 recovered cases and there have been 401 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

Saskatchewan has delivered 94,386 doses of vaccine.

by Chris Brown

Hinshaw says COVID-19 variant cases rising, but measures are slowing the spread

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