By Chris Brown

12 new cases in city, 770 in province

COVID-19 patients in Medicine Hat hospital down by almost half in two weeks

Oct 21, 2021 | 3:51 PM

Alberta’s chief medical officer of health sounded a positive note about COVID-19 statistics on Thursday as also gave a few words of caution.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw said the number of active cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions in the province are all dropping

“We continue to see these numbers declining. But it’s important to remember that this takes time. And this trend could reverse quickly if we are not careful,” said Hinshaw.

She also again urged eligible Albertans to get fully vaccinated as soon as possible.

“We continue to see that the majority of Albertans ending up in hospital, requiring care in ICU or dying from COVID-19 are unvaccinated,” Hinshaw said.

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She praised the more than 230,000 who have gotten their third dose of vaccine in the past two weeks.

There are 216 active cases of COVID-19 in Medicine Hat on Thursday.

Medicine Hat has had 4,342 total cases – the 216 active, 4,052 recovered and there have been 74 deaths.

There are 12 new cases in the city in the past 24 hours and 28 new recoveries.

An AHS spokesperson told CHAT News on Thursday that there are currently 111 COVID-19 positive inpatients in the South Zone with 22 of those in the ICU. There are 30 inpatients at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital with 4 in the ICU.

Two weeks ago there were 54 COVID inpatients in Medicine Hat with 11 in ICU.

Chinook Regional Hospital has 58 with 18 in the ICU. Brooks Health Centre and Cardston Health Centre have six inpatients each; Taber Health Centre has three; Bow Island Health Centre, Pincher Creek Heath Centre, and Raymond Health Centre have two each; Crowsnest Pass Health Centre and St. Michael’s Health Centre have one each.

Among Hatters 12 and over, 82.9 per cent have received at least one dose of vaccine and 74.3 per cent are fully vaccinated.

71.9 per cent of all Hatters have received at least one dose of vaccine at the latest update and 64.5 per cent of Hatters are fully vaccinated.

There are 10,434 active cases in the province, down 390 from Wednesday, and 305,072 recovered cases in the province, up 1,152.

Alberta’s total cases from the start of the pandemic is 318,520.

There are 770 new cases in the province in the past 24 hours.

There are now 912 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 201 of which are in ICU, and 3,014 deaths.

The province completed 11,874 tests in the past 24 hours.

The positivity rate is about 6.5 per cent.

Alberta has administered 6,406,177 doses of vaccine at the latest update.

Hinshaw said she and AHS continue to address vaccine misinformation being shared on social media. She said that in particular, they are addressing questions about whether vaccines impact fertility and are safe for pregnant women.

“As I’ve said before, there is no evidence suggesting that these vaccines impact fertility in any way. Studies done on both male and female fertility outcomes after vaccine show no negative consequences,” she said.

Vaccines are also recommended for anyone who is pregnant or nursing, she said, adding the risk of severe outcomes for pregnant women has increased with variants of concern.

“Vaccines safety is a critical issue in pregnancy and data from thousands of women who have received vaccine has not shown any increased risk in pregnancy.”

Hinshaw will host a telephone town hall next week where she will be joined by other physicians to answer questions about vaccines, fertility and maternal health.

A registration link to the free town hall will be shared soon.

With Halloween 10 days away, Hinshaw asked Albertans to be wise and safe while celebrating.

She asked anyone who is sick to stay home, urged people not to have large gatherings and that any gatherings that do happen take place outside and observe attendance limits.

She asked those trick-or-treating to wear a mask and only go with members of their own household. Those handing out treats are also asked to wear a mask and consider contactless pickup.

More advice and tips have been posted online, she said.

Among new cases today, 62.1 per cent are unvaccinated, 7 per cent are partially vaccinated and 30.1 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Among current hospitalizations, 69.7 per cent are unvaccinated, 5.2 per cent are partially vaccinated and 25.1 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Province-wide, 86.3 per cent of Albertans 12 years old and up have received at least one dose of vaccine and 78.1 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Among Alberta’s total population, 73.4 per cent have received at least one dose of vaccine and 66.4 per cent are fully vaccinated.

The number of local outbreaks listed on AHS website has been declining across the city and region in the past weeks.

There are no local schools on Outbreak status. Five schools in Medicine Hat are on Alert status, as well as five in the surrounding area.

There are 1,111 active cases and 20,351 recovered in the South Zone. The death total in the zone is at 249.

The province-wide reproductive value for the week of Oct. 11-17 is 0.85. It is 0.88 in Calgary Zone, 0.85 in Edmonton Zone and 0.84 in the rest of Alberta.

It’s updated every two weeks. At the last update from Sept. 27-Oct. 3 the numbers were 0.92 in the province, 0.93 in Calgary Zone, 0.86 in Edmonton Zone and 0.94 in the rest of Alberta.

Cypress County has totaled 814 cases. There are 26 active cases, 782 recovered and six deaths. The latest one-dose vaccination rate for all ages is 63.7 per cent, the two-dose rate is 55.7.

The County of Forty Mile has 323 total cases. There are 21 active cases, 297 recovered and there have been five deaths. The latest one-dose vaccination rate for all ages is 38.6 per cent, the two-dose rate is 32.7.

The MD of Taber has 1,190 total cases — 88 active cases, 1,090 recovered and there have been 12 deaths. The latest one-dose vaccination rate for all ages is 45.4 per cent, the two-dose rate is 39.5.

Special Areas No. 2 has 233 total cases – 11 active cases, 220 recovered and there have been two deaths.

Brooks has 2,065 total cases — 42 active cases and 2,000 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 23 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 448 cases — 34 active cases, 408 recovered and there have been six deaths. The latest one-dose vaccination rate for all ages is 63.4 per cent, the two-dose rate is 54.4. The Newell numbers include the city of Brooks.

The County of Warner has 715 total cases. There are 51 active cases, 661 are recovered cases and there have been three deaths in the county. The latest one-dose vaccination rate for all ages is 57.1 per cent, the two-dose rate is 49.4.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 6,727 cases. There are 354 active cases, 6,323 recovered and there have been 50 deaths. Lethbridge County has 1,857 cases, 108 active cases, 1,732 recovered and there have been 17 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 Oct. 20, 2021.”

Saskatchewan has a total of 75,540 cases, 3,104 considered active. There are 71,636 recovered cases and there have been 800 COVID-19 deaths in the province.