No easing of COVID restrictions announced Thursday, “despite the progress we’ve made”

Provincially, 726 patients are currently hospitalized and 119 have been admitted to intensive care units.

“As you can see from our numbers this week, our positivity rate, active cases, and hospitalizations are continuing to decline… we are on a positive trend.”

“Our numbers indicate that the restrictions we put in place last month, while extremely challenging, are helping to prevent more people from being exposed and getting sick with this virus.”

However, Dr. Hinshaw took a moment to give context to the hospitalization figures.

While they are trending downwards, the numbers are still higher than when COVID restrictions were first announced in December.

“We are not in the clear just yet. That is why no additional measures are being eased at this time. There are no changes being announced today. Our cases are falling but we still have the second-highest case rate per capita in Canada.”

Now, there is no clear indication on when current public health measures may be relaxed.

A full list of COVID-19 restrictions in effect in Alberta can be found here.

In the South Zone, 25 people contracted the virus including nine in Lethbridge and seven in Cardston County.

Active infections both regionally and in Lethbridge fell slightly.

Since yesterday’s update, 16 Albertans died from COVID including 11 in the Edmonton Zone, four in the Calgary Zone, and one in the Central Zone. To date, the virus has claimed the lives of 1,500 people in the province.

With another 14,060 tests conducted over the past day, there has now been a total of 3,066,222 tests completed on 1,726,667 different people.

Below is a graph of how COVID-19 cases in Alberta have trended since the start of the pandemic, which can also be accessed with more detail here.

COVID-19 cases in Alberta. (Supplied by Alberta Health Services)

Below is a breakdown of cases per health zone:

Edmonton Zone – 49,894 cases, 3,561 active
- 348 in hospital, 44 in ICU
- 783 deaths (11 new)
Calgary Zone – 45,561 cases, 3,962 active
- 216 in hospital, 53 in ICU
- 481 deaths (four new)
North Zone – 9,496 cases, 1,383 active
- 75 in hospital, eight in ICU
- 91 deaths
Central Zone – 8,417 cases, 931 active
- 58 in hospital, nine in ICU
- 77 deaths (one new)
South Zone – 5,616 cases, 405 active
- 29 in hospital, five in ICU
- 68 deaths

Below is a breakdown of cases in the South Health Zone:

Brooks – 1,361 cases, seven active, 14 deaths
Lethbridge – 1,607 cases (nine new), 132 active, 11 deaths
- West Lethbridge – 583 cases (five new), 41 active, two deaths
- South Lethbridge – 541 cases (three new), 62 active, eight deaths
- North Lethbridge – 485 cases, 29 active, one death
Medicine Hat – 522 cases (two new), 34 active, 12 deaths
Lethbridge County – 495 cases (four new), 30 active, seven deaths
Cardston County – 417 cases (seven new), 107 active, six deaths
M.D. of Taber – 328 cases, 10 active, six deaths
County of Warner – 156 cases, nine active, two deaths
County of Newell – 153 cases, eight active, two deaths
M.D. of Pincher Creek – 152 cases (one new), 31 active, three deaths
Cypress County – 145 cases (one new), three active, zero deaths
County of Forty Mile – 117 cases (one new), two active, two deaths
Fort Macleod – 88 cases, 17 active, three deaths
Crowsnest Pass – 18 cases, six active, zero deaths

by David Opinko

No easing of COVID restrictions announced Thursday, “despite the progress we’ve made”

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