By Chris Brown

15 new cases in city, 194 in province

Alberta loosening COVID management measures even as cases rising

Jul 28, 2021 | 4:05 PM

In her first live update in nearly a month, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health stressed the effectiveness of vaccines and announced changes in the way Alberta Health will manage COVID-19 cases going forward.

Those include quarantine no longer being legally required for close contacts of confirmed positive cases and the end of asymptomatic testing of close contacts.

Contact tracing will be stopped in all but high-risk locations, Dr. Deena Hinshaw said, adding people will be responsible for letting their own contacts know if they were exposed to COVID.

She said looking around the world shows COVID-19 will not be eliminated and we will live with the virus for years to come.

“What we need to decide as we look at the impacts of public health interventions, the choices about using a large amount of resources to focus on a single disease when there are many others that also cause illness and problems .. is to make the determination about how we best utilize our public health resources and the human resources we have to provide the most benefit for the most people,” said Hinshaw.

IN THE COMMUNITY

Medicine Hat's Mustard Seed adding new shelter spaces at Alberta government's request

11h ago

HOLIDAYS

Medicine Hat Kiwanis hosting Christmas dinner, applications due Friday

17h ago

IN THE COMMUNITY

'Compassionate Friends' offer peer support for bereaved in Medicine Hat

Dec 11, 2024

As well, universal masking will not be required in schools, says Hinshaw. it will be recommended as a temporary outbreak intervention in response to respiratory outbreaks. A guidance document will be released for schools in the middle of August.

The following changes will be effective July 29:

• Quarantine for close contacts will shift from mandatory to recommended. Isolation for anyone with COVID-19 symptoms and for confirmed positive cases is still required.
  • Unimmunized individuals who know they have been exposed to COVID-19 should monitor for symptoms and seek testing if they become symptomatic.
  • Anyone who is not fully immunized should avoid high-risk locations such as continuing care facilities and crowded indoor spaces if they have been in contact with a case in the past 14 days.
• All positive cases will continue to be notified. Contact tracers will no longer notify close contacts of exposure. Individuals are asked to inform their close contacts when informed of their positive result.
• Contact tracers will continue to investigate cases that are in high-risk settings such as acute and continuing care facilities.
• Outbreak management and identification will focus on high-risk locations, including continuing and acute care facilities and high-risk workplaces. Community outbreaks with a surge in cases leading to severe outcomes will also be addressed as needed.
• Asymptomatic testing is no longer recommended. Testing will continue to be available for individuals who are symptomatic.
• Mandatory masking remains in acute and continuing care facilities, publicly accessible transit, taxis and ride-share.

The following changes will take effect on Aug. 16:

• Provincial mandatory masking orders will be lifted. Some masking in acute care or continuing care facilities may still be required.
• Isolation following a positive COVID-19 test result will no longer be required, but strongly recommended.
  • Individuals with symptoms of any respiratory infection should still remain at home until symptoms have resolved.
  • Staying home when sick remains an important way to care for those around us by not passing on any infection.
• Isolation hotels and quarantine support will no longer be available.
• Testing will be available for Albertans with symptoms when it is needed to help direct patient care decisions.
  • This testing will be available through assessment centres until Aug. 31 and, after that, will be in primary care settings including physicians’ offices. For those with severe illness requiring urgent or emergency care, testing will be available in acute care and hospital settings.
  • COVID-19 testing will also be offered as needed in high-risk outbreaks such as in continuing care facilities.
• Public health will focus on investigating severe cases that require hospitalization and any deaths due to COVID-19.
• Outbreak management and preventative measures will continue focusing on outbreaks in high-risk settings, such as continuing and acute care facilities.
  • Community outbreaks will continue to be addressed as needed.
  • Daycares and schools will be supported with measures that would be effective for any respiratory virus if outbreaks are identified.

Hinshaw also said the rising number of COVID cases in the province is not a surprise.

“Cases have risen recently, almost entirely in those who have not been vaccinated, as we expected would likely happen as people came in close contact with each other again,” said Hinshaw on Wednesday.

Hinshaw repeated that vaccines dramatically reduce the risk of severe outcomes and the risk of infection.

She said that since July 1, people who are not fully immunized made up 95 per cent of all cases of COVID-19, 94 per cent of all those who have needed hospital care for COVID-19 and 95 per cent of all COVID deaths.

She said having two doses of vaccine has never been more important.

“The delta variant spreads more easily and the second dose is critical for protection,” said Hinshaw.

She said vaccination rates and vaccines still available mean the threat of the still dangerous virus is shifting.

“While COVID-19 cases may rise in the coming weeks and months, a surge of hospitalizations and other severe outcomes is much less thanks to vaccines,” Hinshaw.

She also urged people to get vaccinated and to only use reliable sources for vaccine information.

Medicine Hat has 15 new cases today, bringing the number of active cases to 45.

Medicine Hat has 45 active COVID-19 cases, a jump of 50 per cent in just one day.

Medicine Hat has had 1,316 total cases – the 45 active, 1,249 recovered and there have been 22 deaths.

There are 15 new cases in the city today and no new recoveries.

60.6 per cent of Hatters have received at least one dose of vaccine at the latest update. 53.3 per cent of Hatters are fully vaccinated.

There are 1,334 active cases in the province, up 161 from Tuesday, and 230,216 recovered cases in the province, up 33.

Alberta’s total cases from the start of the pandemic is 233,875.

There are 194 new cases in the province today, and 123 more variant of concern cases have been identified.

There are now 84 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 18 of which are in ICU, and 2,325 deaths.

The province completed 7,129 tests in the past 24 hours.

The positivity rate is about 2.9 per cent.

Alberta has administered 5,260,033 doses of vaccine at the latest update.

Province-wide, 75.6 per cent of Albertans 12 years old and up have received at least one dose of vaccine and 64.3 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Among Albertans of all ages, 64.3 per cent have received at least one dose of vaccine and 54.7 per cent are fully vaccinated.

There are 124 active cases and 12,393 recovered in the South Zone. The death total in the zone is at 137. There are four people in hospital in the zone, none in ICU.

Medicine Hat Public School Division announced on Monday that a positive COVID-19 case has been connected to its summer school program.

The province-wide reproductive value for the week of July 19-25 is 1.48. It is 1.50 in Calgary Zone, 1.37 in Edmonton Zone and 1.48 in the rest of Alberta.

At the last update from July 5-11 the numbers were 0.84, province-wide, 0.88 in Calgary Zone, 0.97 in Edmonton Zone and 0.69 in the rest of Alberta.

Cypress County has totaled 310 cases. There are eight active cases, 301 recovered and one death. The latest one-dose vaccination rate for all ages is 50.9 per cent, the two-dose rate is 43.7.

The County of Forty Mile has 157 total cases. There are no active cases, 154 recovered and there have been three deaths. The latest one-dose vaccination rate for all ages is 30.4 per cent, the two-dose rate is 25.7.

The MD of Taber has 575 total cases — three active cases, 566 recovered and there have been six deaths. The latest one-dose vaccination rate for all ages is 37.2 per cent, the two-dose rate is 31.9.

Special Areas No. 2 has 106 total cases – two active cases, 103 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,531 total cases — 29 active cases and 1,487 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 15 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 251 cases — three active cases, 245 recovered and there have been three deaths. The latest one-dose vaccination rate for all ages is 50.5 per cent, the two-dose rate is 42.1. The Newell numbers include the city of Brooks.

The County of Warner has 468 total cases. There are no active cases, 465 are recovered cases and there have been three deaths in the county. The latest one-dose vaccination rate for all ages is 46.5 per cent, the two-dose rate is 39.8.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 4,859 cases. There are 19 active cases, 4,800 recovered and there have been 40 deaths. Lethbridge County has 1,268 cases, six active cases, 1,249 recovered and there have been 13 deaths.

Not all the areas on the vaccination data map match the case count map.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day July 27, 2021.”

Saskatchewan has a total of 49,765 cases, 362 considered active. There are 48,825 recovered cases and there have been 578 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

Saskatchewan has delivered 1,390,263 doses of vaccine.