By Chris Brown

No new cases in city, 415 in province

Active COVID-19 cases in Medicine Hat down to 16

Feb 18, 2021 | 4:30 PM

Health Minister Tyler Shandro touted the work of the provincial contact tracing team the same day the province announced the highest number of new daily cases since public health restrictions began to be lifted on Feb. 8.

Shandro said there are currently more than 2,300 contact tracers and that 21,216 cases were closed in January.

“The tracers have been steadfast and their dedication has brought us to the point now that they reach all positive cases within 24 hours of their test results,” he said.

There are 415 total new cases in the province today, 14 of which are variant cases.

There have been 239 variant cases identified in the province. As identified COVID-19 variant cases rise, there are 50 contact tracers dedicated to variant tracing.

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Even with the higher number of new cases today, numbers overall are down from December and the first part of January.

Shandro credited Albertans for doing the right thing and following the guidance of public health officials to bring the number of new daily cases down overall.

“We’re still at risk, especially from the new variants. We have to continue to be careful,” he said. “But Albertans have shown that they can do what it takes to bend the curve. And that’s why I believe it’s safe to move forward with our careful, staged reopening.”

There are 16 active cases of COVID-19 in Medicine Hat on Thursday.

The city now has had 543 total cases – the 16 active, 513 recovered and there have been 14 deaths.

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

Across the province, there are 4,887 active cases, up 30 from Wednesday, and 123,338 recovered cases, up 378.

Alberta’s total number of COVID-19 cases from the start of the pandemic is 130,030.

There are now 362 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 55 of which are in ICU, and 1,805 deaths.

The province completed 10,275 tests in the past 24 hours.

The provincial positivity rate is 4.2 per cent.

The health minister says a decision on how the vaccine rollout will be prioritized for Phase 2 will be announced soon. Any decisions will be based on evidence, vulnerability and equity, he added.

Hinshaw will provide another update on Monday.

An outbreak was listed on the provincial website this week at the Valleyview long-term care facility in Medicine Hat. Previously listed local outbreaks at Meadowlands and the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital are still on the alberta.ca reporting page.

There are 6,280 cases in the South Zone. There are 333 active cases and 5,863 recovered. The death total in the zone is at 84.

An AHS spokesperson told CHAT News on Monday that AHS South Zone currently has 37 COVID-19 positive individuals in hospital. There are five at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital. Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge has 30 inpatients, with eight of those in the ICU. The Pincher Creek Health Centre and Cardston Health Centre have one inpatient each.

Seven Persons School has been taken off “Alert” status on the school map.

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

Cypress County has totaled 146 cases – two active cases and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 117 total cases. There are no active cases, 115 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The MD of Taber has 335 total cases — three active cases, 326 recovered and there have been six deaths.

Special Areas No. 2 has 40 total cases – one active, 38 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,364 total cases — zero active and 1,350 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 14 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 158 cases — zero active cases, 156 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 161 total cases. There are three active cases, 156 are recovered cases and there have been two deaths in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 1,970 cases. There are 208 active cases, 1,743 recovered and there have been 19 deaths. Lethbridge County has 533 cases, 15 active cases, 511 recovered and there have been seven deaths.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Feb. 17, 2021.”

Read the full Feb. 18 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan has a total of 27,099 cases, 1,516 considered active. There are 25,221 recovered cases and there have been 362 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

Saskatchewan has delivered 50,465 doses of vaccine.