For the third day in a row, active cases of COVID-19 have dropped by nine or more in Airdrie, as the city reported 81 active cases as of Jan. 27.
The number is down nine from the day previous and 34 from Jan. 19. According to airdrie.ca, there have been 1,746 cases in Airdrie since the pandemic began. Of those, 1,649 people have recovered and 16 deaths have been reported.
Three Airdrie schools remain listed on the provincial COVID-19 school status map. George McDougall High School continues to have 10 or more positive cases after an outbreak of the virus there was first reported on Jan. 15. On the east side of the city, Bert Church High School has been added to the list under "alert" status, meaning two to four cases have been reported there since in-class learning resumed. St. Veronica School has also been listed under "alert" status.
Elsewhere in Airdrie, the Bethany Care Centre remains the sole local facility on the government's list of COVID-19 outbreaks. According to the retirement home's daily bulletin, one resident and two employees were confirmed to still have the virus as of Jan. 27.
Outside of Airdrie, Rocky View County (RVC) is reporting 64 active cases, which is an increase of six from from the day previous. On the east side of the county, Chestermere is now at 52 active cases. Out west, Cochrane has at 20 active cases, down four from the day previous.
In Chestermere, two schools remain on the COVID-19 school status map; Chestermere Lake Middle School and Prairie Waters Elementary School have both been listed under "alert" status, meaning two to four active cases are reported there.
Provincially, 459 new cases were identified on Jan. 27, meaning there have been a total of 122,360 cases of COVID-19 in Alberta. Of the total cases, 8,203 are considered active, 112,558 people have recovered, 604 patients are in hospital and 110 Albertans are in intensive care units. In total, 1,599 deaths have been reported in the province due to the virus, including 12 reported on Jan. 27.
As of Jan. 26, 101,123 doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in Alberta. To date, 11,362 Albertans have been fully immunized with two doses of a vaccine. Thirty-two adverse events following immunization have been reported to Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services (AHS).
Chief medical health officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw said during her Jan. 27 update said that despite the decline in new and active cases across the province, there is still a lot of pressure on Alberta's health-care system.
"Thanks to the hard work and sacrifices of so many Albertans, we have seen hospitalizations decline significantly over the past few weeks," she said. "While hospitalizations are declining, the health system is still feeling this strain today, which impacts anyone who needs care – regardless of whether it is from COVID or any other reason."
Hinshaw cited someone who has a heart attack breaks their wrist as examples. Both of these require hospital care and have nothing to do with COVID-19.
"In both cases, the large number of COVID beds that are currently occupied with patients and the precautions that must be taken to prevent the spread of the virus in hospital mean there are fewer beds available when patients arrive," she said. "When we have a high number of COVID-19 patients requiring care, this means that hospital units fill up faster and there are fewer spaces available for those who suffer strokes, heart attacks or other ailments."
If not careful, Hinshaw added, people who need to be admitted to hospital will experience longer wait times.
"This, in turn, can lead emergency departments to fill up faster, challenging their ability to take new arrivals, leaving Albertans with broken bones and other less severe needs in waiting rooms," she said.
