By Chris Brown

'right to be angry'

Medicine Hat’s active COVID-19 cases below 50; Shandro addresses Albertans’ anger

Jan 5, 2021 | 4:31 PM

Health Minister Tyler Shandro says he’s spent much of the past few days speaking with constituents angry about UCP politicians and officials vacationing during the pandemic.

He says they are right to be angry.

“When I speak to these constituents, and I hear them, I’m listening to them, I hear that anger and I tell them they’re right,” said Shandro at the government’s first news conference since New Year’s Day. “All I can say is this: I can say that we’re sorry, but I’m not asking for their forgiveness. I’m trying to make that clear. I don’t think we can ask for forgiveness at this time. What I think we can ask for though at this time, what I’m asking from Albertans is patience.”

He said over a million Albertans voted for the UCP when they campaigned on hard work and humility.

Shandro said some UCP government members forgot about that last part.

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He said it will take time for the United Conservatives to earn back Albertans’ trust.

Premier Jason Kenney has yet to speak publicly since Albertans’ anger boiled over on the weekend.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw said she also understands the anger Albertans are feeling.

“What I would say about that is we’re all so tired. We’re tired of the restrictions, we’re tired of COVID,” she said. “I can absolutely understand that anger. I also know that all of us all of Albertans are really sick and tired of COVID and sometimes that leads to lapses in judgment.”

She encouraged all Albertans to take a deep breath and continue to work toward the common goal of getting through COVID together.

Shandro says the COVID cabinet committee will meet soon to discuss the current restrictions in place, and that they will be in place until at least Jan. 12 as was originally planned.

There are 48 active cases in Medicine Hat on Tuesday.

The city now has had 477 total cases – the 48 active, 420 recovered and there have been nine deaths.

There are three new cases in the city in Tuesday’s update and five recoveries.

Across the province, there are 13,411 active cases, down 428 from Monday, and 91,799 recovered cases, up 1,245.

Alberta’s total number of COVID-19 cases from the start of the pandemic is 106,378.

There are 843 new cases in the province today.

There are now 919 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 140 of which are in ICU, and 1,168 deaths.

The province completed 10,301 tests in the past 24 hours.

The provincial positivity rate is 8.2 per cent.

The health minister announced the province has administered more than 26,000 vaccines to Albertans.

“AHS is doing a superb job of that rollout and I want to thank the staff who are giving out shots and the AHS management team,” said Shandro, adding AHS will ramp up its efforts to vaccinate even more Albertans as supply ramps up. “Our commitment has been the same from the start. We’ll get the vaccines out as soon as we get them in.”

According to the government, the province has administered more than 56 per cent of its vaccines into the arms of Albertans, a number it says is tops in the country.

Starting this week, Phase 1A will include immunization of health-care workers and home care and emergency departments.

Shandro says the hope is to begin Phase 1B in February. That will include seniors age 75 and older, residents 65 and older on First Nations reserve communities, Metis settlements and health-care workers on medical, surgical and COVID-19 units or operating rooms.

The health minister also announced the death of a second health-care worker in the province, a woman in her 50s who worked in the Edmonton Zone.

A new online appointment tool has been launched for eligible health-care workers to book their immunization and AHS is actively recruiting staff to join its team of immunizers.

READ MORE: Vaccine wastage extremely limited, say Shandro and Hinshaw

The chief medical officer of health says that this is a new year but there is still a stretch of hard road ahead.

“COVID-19 is still here and still threatens our health system, and the well-being of our friends, family and neighbours,” said Hinshaw.

She said a stabilization of cases is being seen and there are days of low new case counts due to low testing numbers.

“But overall, new case numbers, hospitalizations and ICU admissions for COVID-19 are still very high in our province,” she said.

Medicine Hat remains on the provincial “Watch” list and is in enhanced status, as is the entire province. In enhanced status, risk levels require enhanced public health measures to control the spread and are informed by local context.

Regions are placed on the province’s “Watch” list when they have a rate of more than 50 active cases per 100,000 population. Medicine Hat’s 48 active cases among 68,057 people puts it at a rate of 70.5.

Cypress County with a rate of 44.6 on five active cases is not on the “Watch” list.

Brooks (62.2 rate), The County of Newell (74.1), Lethbridge (77.8) Lethbridge County (130.8) and the MD of Taber (79.5) are also on the list.

The County of Forty Mile is no longer on the “Watch” list.

There are 5,119 cases in the South Zone. There are 257 active cases and 4,799 recovered. There are 19 people in hospital with COVID-19 in the South Zone, two of which are in ICU. The death total in the zone is at 63.

On Tuesday there are 294 schools in the province where outbreaks have been declared. Alberta Health’s threshold for declaring an outbreak in school is two cases being in a school while infectious within 14 days.

In Brooks, an outbreak is listed at Christ the King Academy and Holy Family Academy is on the Watch list.

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

Cypress County has totaled 143 cases – five active cases and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 114 total cases. There is one active case, 111 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The MD of Taber has 317 total cases — 15 active cases, 296 recovered and there have been six deaths.

Special Areas No. 2 has 37 total cases – three active, 33 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,351 total cases — 12 active and 1,325 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 14 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 143 cases — six active cases, 135 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 144 total cases. There is one active case, 141 are recovered cases and there have been two deaths in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 1,447 cases. There are 77 active cases, 1,361 recovered and there have been nine deaths. Lethbridge County has 451 cases, 33 active cases, 411 recovered and there have been seven deaths.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Jan. 4, 2021.”

Read the full Jan. 5 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan confirmed 153 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

Saskatchewan has a total of 16,520 cases, 3,057 considered active. There are 13,298 recovered cases and there have been 165 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

Saskatchewan says it has administered 4,254 vaccines.