Active COVID-19 cases at 141 in city; easing restrictions at continuing care facilities

Each site will develop its own visiting approach that falls within the guidelines set out in the order and reflects the risk tolerance of the residents who live at that site.

Premier Jason Kenney says elderly Albertans have faced one of the toughest burdens since the start of the pandemic.

“This virus is merciless and the seniors in continuing care and other facilities have been at the highest risk for serious outcomes from the virus including more severe illness, hospitalization and death,” says Kenney.

The risk has been even greater for those living in congregate settings, he says, noting more than 61 per cent (more than 1,200) of the COVID deaths in Alberta have been residents of continuing care.

Kenney says Alberta’s vaccination program is working and keeping elderly Albertans safe.

He said that active cases in long-term care settings are down from 831 in late December to 44 last week, and cases in designated supportive living settings are down 92 per cent in the same time.

As, well, fatalities are down from 167 per week in late December to 25 per week over the past seven days.

“These results show us the power of vaccines and that is why despite seeing sharp rises in cases in other age groups, this third wave has not impacted those age 70 and older in the same way. And that’s why we’re able to ease the restrictions on continuing care residents and their families,” says Kenney.

He added more than 83 per cent of Albertans aged 75 and over have been immunized. On the other end, 24 per cent of Albertans ages 40-49 have been vaccinated since the AstraZeneca vaccine was opened to that age group. More than 87,000 doses of AstraZeneca have been administered and 55,000 appointments are booked for the next seven days.

With restrictions in place at retail and restaurants, Kenney pointed to spread at work camps such as in northern Alberta and staff living quarters such as in Banff.

He also said that “by far the largest source of transmission in Alberta continues to be at home and socializing.”

Health Minister Tyler Shandro announced on Monday that shots will be offered to 15,000 workers at 136 federal and provincial meat-packing plants starting this week.

Effective April 27, Albertans born between 2006 and 2009 with specific health conditions will be eligible to book an appointment to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine through the AHS online booking tool, Health Link at 811 and participating pharmacies.

There are 141 active cases of COVID-19 in Medicine Hat on Monday.

Medicine Hat now has had 816 total cases – the 141 active, 658 recovered and there have been 17 deaths.

There are seven new cases in the city and four new recoveries in the city today.

Across the province, there are 20,610 active cases, up 474 from Sunday, and 160,617 recovered cases, up 1,104.

Alberta’s total cases from the start of the pandemic is 183,301.

There have been 26,051 variant cases ID’d in the province, 1,542 new today. There are 1,284 in the South Zone.

13,187 active cases (64 per cent of total) have been identified as variants of concern.

There are 1,495 total new cases in the province today.

There are now 616 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 145 of which are in ICU, and 2,074 deaths.

The province completed 14,848 tests in the past 24 hours.

The positivity rate is about 10 per cent.

Alberta has administered 1,419,188 doses of vaccine at the latest update.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw’s next update will be early this week.

There are 9,993 cases in the South Zone. There are 983 active cases and 8,895 recovered. The death total in the zone is at 115.

An AHS spokesperson told CHAT News on Monday that AHS South Zone currently has 36 COVID-19 positive individuals in hospital. There are 27 at Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge, with nine of those in the ICU. Medicine Hat Regional Hospital has eight inpatients, with two of those in the ICU. The Brooks Health Centre has one inpatient.

St. Michael’s School remains on AHS Outbreak status after reporting five cases in late March.

On Friday, the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education announced Notre Dame Academy will transition to online learning from April 26-May 7. Four cases were identified at the school last week and more than a dozen teachers are quarantining.

One case was also identified last week at St. Francis Xavier School, says the division.

AHS lists St. Mary’s School on Alert status.

The Medicine Hat Christian school has been placed On Alert status by Alberta Health Services, after a person at the school tested positive for the virus.

All close contacts have been identified and are in quarantine and the school remains open.

Medicine Hat Public School Division has announced cases at three schools last week. Additional cases were identified at Crescent Heights High School and River Heights Elementary School late on Wednesday, as well as a case at Alexandra Middle School on Thursday. They are on Alert status.

Prairie Rose Public Schools announced a confirmed case connected to Bow Island Elementary School on April 19, adding to a growing list of Prairie Rose schools with cases.

Three positive cases of COVID-19 were connected to Irvine School two weekends ago. These cases are in addition to one case connected to Irvine School on the previous weekend.

There are also positive COVID-19 cases Seven Persons School in Cypress County.

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

Sixty-nine students from Eagle Butte High School were in quarantine after a positive case was confirmed at the school three weeks ago. The individual was later confirmed to have a variant strain of the virus.

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

The province-wide reproductive value from last week is 1.04. It is 0.98 in Calgary Zone, 1.10 in Edmonton Zone and 1.05 in the rest of Alberta. These figures are updated each Monday.

Cypress County has totaled 220 cases – 43 active cases and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 144 total cases. There are 11 active cases, 130 recovered and there have been three deaths.

The MD of Taber has 480 total cases — 37 active cases, 437 recovered and there have been six deaths.

Special Areas No. 2 has 76 total cases – five active cases, 70 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,404 total cases — 36 active cases and 1,354 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 14 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 179 cases — 10 active cases, 167 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 277 total cases. There are 59 active cases, 215 are recovered cases and there have been three deaths in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 4,067 cases. There are 421 active cases, 3,611 recovered and there have been 35 deaths. Lethbridge County has 932 cases, 129 active cases, 793 recovered and there have been 10 deaths.

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

Saskatchewan has a total of 40,177 cases, 2,538 considered active. There are 37,163 recovered cases and there have been 476 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

Saskatchewan has delivered 403,384 doses of vaccine.

by Chris Brown

Active COVID-19 cases at 141 in city; easing restrictions at continuing care facilities

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