CHAT News file photo

By Teagan Rasche

As Medicine Hat COVID cases keep rising city officials are keeping quiet

Aug 12, 2021 | 4:38 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – A month ago on July 18, there were fewer than 10 active COVID-19 cases in Medicine Hat.

Now, the city has a record-high 361 active cases, with 12 people currently in hospital.

With community spread quickly driving case numbers up, Alberta Health Services released a public service announcement Thursday morning, emphasizing their concerns about southeastern Alberta.

Dr. Mila Luchak says the message AHS is trying to send is to get vaccinated.

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“Maybe people perhaps don’t understand that COVID could impact them and have harsh impacts on their health as well and not fully understanding that really it’s not about the illness of the individual, but also protecting friends and neighbours and the public around those individuals,” Luchak said.

CHAT News reached out to city officials multiple times. No one, including the mayor and director of emergency management, were made available.

But one city councillor did say safety measures are up to individual preference.

“If the provincial government is not going to take onus to do this for all the province, then what grounds do we have to actually go forward with something,” Brian Varga said. “We can try again to do it but I know we’re going to get big pushback.’’

READ MORE: Province over 4,000 active COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and positivity rate up

Fellow councillor Phil Turnbull is worried about the numbers. Both he and UCP Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA Michaela Glasgo encourage residents to get vaccinated.

“We never said we were going to get to zero cases of COVID, that was never the plan,” Glasgo said. “Zero cases is a pipe dream, it’s never going to happen. We need to make sure what we’re doing is making sure our healthcare system can deal with the influx of cases that are coming in but now we know that influx is much less.”

Glasgo says while numbers are rising, cases are less severe.

“At the end of the day, Medicine Hat is just as safe as it ever was,” Glasgo said.

However, Independent Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes is concerned with the rising cases. He stresses it’s up to individual choice and responsibility to keep ourselves and families safe.

“We all have individual responsibility, we all have the ability to take care of ourselves and do certain things as mentioned, social distancing, staying outside, to mask-wearing and vaccinations,” Barnes said.

Vaccinations are widely available at community pharmacies, with some offering walk-ins.

Although cases keep rising, starting Monday, provincial masking orders will be lifted and those who test positive with COVID-19 will no longer be required to isolate.