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By Chantal Wagner

COVID-19 hot spots

Medicine Hat threshold for additional restrictions is 250 active cases

Apr 30, 2021 | 4:35 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Alberta is targeting COVID-19 hot spots with tighter restrictions that include at-home learning for junior and senior high school students and a ban on indoor fitness and sports.

Restrictions will apply to areas with more than 350 cases per 100,000 population and will be in place for a minimum of two weeks.

Medicine Hat does not fall under these regionalized restrictions as of yet.

Merrick Brown, the city’s Director of Emergency Management says our city’s threshold would have to be 250 active COVID-19 cases.

Right now we have 182 active (as of April 29). Friday numbers were not out as of 4:30 p.m. on April 30.

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Brown says this is the highest number of active cases we have had.

And adds given the rate of increase, even in the past week if we do not change our behaviour, we will meet this 250 threshold very quickly.

“I commend those individuals that are following the restrictions because that’s what’s going to get us through it. And those individuals who are not following, it’s just going to keep us going longer. The restrictions are real, they’re in our face, and we’re not going to get rid of those restrictions unless we can follow what we need to do to get out of this.”

Right now, the areas include the cities of Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Airdrie, and the county of Strathcona.

Premier Kenney says curfews will be considered if numbers go higher.

He says it’s a hard but necessary step to bend the curve of surging cases.

-with files from the Canadian Press