Active cases of COVID-19 in Airdrie as of Jan. 12 dropped by 25 since the day before, but across the province, 38 deaths were reported in a 24-hour span – the most reported in one day since the virus arrived in the province roughly 10 months ago. While they were not reported until now, the deaths occurred between Dec. 30, 2020 and Jan. 12.
According to airdrie.ca, there have been a total of 1,646 cases of the virus in Airdrie, as of Jan. 12. Of those, 160 are considered active, 1,473 people have recovered and 13 deaths have been reported. Airdrie has a case rate of 228 per 100,000 population.
As students settle back into classroom learning, there are currently no local schools with listed outbreaks posted on the Province's COVID-19 school status map.
Outside of Airdrie city limits, according to the COVID-19 regional status map, Rocky View County (RVC) is reporting 82 active cases, which is a decrease of five compared to the day previous.
On the east side of the county, Chestermere is now at 56 active cases, four fewer than the day previous, while on the west side of RVC, Cochrane is reporting 49 cases, six fewer than the day previous.
There are currently no schools listed on the Alberta government's COVID-19 status map in RVC. No schools in Chestermere or Cochrane are listed, either.
Provincially, there have been a total of 112,743 cases of COVID-19 in Alberta as of Jan. 12, with 652 new cases reported on that date. Of the total cases, 13,220 are considered active, 98,178 people have recovered, 819 patients are in hospital and 132 Albertans are in intensive care units. In total, 1,345 deaths have been reported in the province due to the virus.
During Dr. Deena Hinshaw's Jan. 12 press conference, she said that Alberta Health Services (AHS) has been working to expand contact tracing efforts.
"We are now able to reach out within 24 hours to all high-priority cases of COVID-19, including those involving school-aged children, health care workers, long-term care workers, and those who are involved in critical response," she said. "We continue to prioritize contact tracing for other cases involving minors, for those living or working in continuing care or other congregate facilities. With more contact tracers and fewer cases, we are reducing the number of cases with unknown exposures."
According to Hinshaw, only about 47 per cent of active cases have an unknown source, down from almost 80 per cent on Dec. 10 to Dec. 15.
"It’s important to note that investigations into recent cases are still underway, and that identifying a source of exposure is complex," she said. "Even with a fully functioning system, there are always a portion of cases – usually around 30 per cent – where the source of exposure cannot be identified. We are making progress, and we will continue to build our capacity."
On the vaccination front, Alberta government data indicate 52,318 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province, as of Jan. 11. This equates to 1,183 doses per 100,000 population. Eight adverse events following immunization have been reported to Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services.
