By Chris Brown

Active Medicine Hat cases up 31 in a wee

COVID-19 cases jump in Medicine Hat, currently 45 active

Apr 5, 2021 | 3:33 PM

Active COVID-19 cases in Medicine Hat have spiked since the last detailed update from the province on Thursday.

There are 45 active cases in the city today, up from 28 on April 1. One week ago there were just 14 active cases in Medicine Hat.

Over the Easter long weekend while providing only preliminary updates, Dr. Deena Hinshaw revealed the province was investigating a ‘significant’ outbreak involving a variant of concern.

She gave more details in a Twitter thread on Monday.

She said the outbreak appears linked to a large employer with multiple sites across Western Canada.

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“The outbreak started with a traveller returning to Alberta from out of province. To date, the spread has been confined to 3 work sites in Central and North Zone, where employees travelled between sites.”

She continued.

“We have now identified 26 COVID-19 cases linked to employees at these three sites, and their household contacts. So far, only 3 are confirmed P1 cases, but this will likely increase as more results come in.”

Hinshaw says AHS has been working with the operator and cases to ensure anyone at risk of exposure to offer testing and quarantines to limit the spread. She says that includes employees at other sites who may have been exposed. Anyone at risk is being directly contacted and supported.

The P.1 variant was first identified in Brazil.

READ MORE: Local church appears to hold Easter Service in defiance of public health order

Medicine Hat now has had 614 total cases – the 45 active, 552 recovered and there have been 17 deaths.

There are 20 new cases in the city and three new recoveries since the last detailed update Thursday.

Across the province, there are 10,582 active cases, up 1,929 from Thursday, and 140,614 recovered cases, up 2,054.

Alberta’s total cases from the start of the pandemic is 153,194.

There have been 6,310 variant cases ID’d in the province, 1,933 new since Thursday. There are 376 in the South Zone.

4,145 active cases (39.2 per cent of total) have been identified as variants of concern.

There are 887 total new cases in the province today.

There are now 312 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 76 of which are in ICU, and 1,998 deaths.

The province completed 9,102 tests in the past 24 hours.

The positivity rate is about 9.9 per cent.

Alberta has delivered 707,482 doses of vaccine.

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

The chief medical officer of health also said there is a separate, unrelated P.1 outbreak reported at a workplace in Calgary Zone. Five cases are currently linked to this outbreak, including one confirmed case of the P.1 variant. Health officials are also working with the employer and supporting anyone at risk.

Earlier Monday, NDP Leader Rachel Notley called on the UCP government to bring back tougher measures amid a rise in variant cases.

On April 1, Premier Jason Kenney pleaded with Albertans to follow the restrictions already in place but did not implement any new measures or guidelines.

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 8,478 cases in the South Zone. There are 878 active cases and 7,494 recovered. The death total in the zone is at 106.

An AHS spokesperson told CHAT News on Monday that AHS South Zone currently has 35 COVID-19 positive individuals in hospital. There are 30 at Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge, with eight of those in the ICU. Medicine Hat Regional Hospital has four inpatients, with one in the ICU. The Cardston Health Centre has one inpatient.

St. Michael’s School is on AHS Outbreak status after reporting five cases last week.

Ecole Connaught School has confirmed two variant cases. The first case was identified on March 31, the second on April 3.

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

The province-wide reproductive value from last week is 1.09. It is 1.12 in Calgary Zone, 1.10 in Edmonton Zone and 1.04 in the rest of Alberta. These figures are usually updated each Monday, but were not as of 4 p.m. on April 5.

Cypress County has totaled 159 cases – 13 active cases and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 129 total cases. There are six active cases, 120 recovered and there have been three deaths.

The MD of Taber has 419 total cases — 64 active cases, 349 recovered and there have been six deaths.

Special Areas No. 2 has 68 total cases – nine active cases, 58 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,367 total cases — two active cases and 1,351 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 14 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 163 cases — three active cases, 158 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 184 total cases. There are six active cases, 175 are recovered cases and there have been three deaths in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 3,388 cases. There are 507 active cases, 2,851 recovered and there have been 30 deaths. Lethbridge County has 737 cases, 122 active cases, 607 recovered and there have been eight deaths.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day April 4, 2021.”

Saskatchewan has a total of 34,763 cases, 2,202 considered active. There are 32,121 recovered cases and there have been 440 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

Saskatchewan has delivered 221,533 doses of vaccine.