Airdrie has added 36 additional active COVID-19 cases since March 22, bringing the city's current count to 108.
According to numbers updated daily on Airdrie.ca, there have been 2,055 total cases of the virus reported in the city in total. To date, 1,930 Airdronians have recovered from COVID-19 and 17 deaths have been reported.
- COVID-19 UPDATES: See the latest local and global COVID-19 information.
Cases are confirmed at six schools in Airdrie, according to the provincial COVID-19 status map. Northcott Prairie School and A.E. Bowers Elementary School are listed under "outbreak" status, meaning they have reported five to nine cases. R.J. Hawkey Elementary School, Atlas Learning Academy Ltd., Meadowbrook School and Our Lady Queen of Peace Elementary School have all been listed under "alert" status, meaning they are reporting two to four active cases.
No Airdrie-based facilities are currently on the Alberta government's list of COVID-19 outbreaks.
Across the province, according to alberta.ca, 764 new cases were identified on March 24, with a test positivity rate of 5.4 per cent. The new cases marked the highest daily total since mid-January in Alberta, and mean there were 6,835 active cases in the province as of March 24.
There have been a total of 144,311 cases since the pandemic began. According to the reported provincial numbers, 135,500 Albertans have recovered from COVID-19 as of March 24, while 294 patients are in hospital with the virus and 55 Albertans are in intensive care units. In total, 1,968 deaths have been reported in Alberta from COVID-19, including three new deaths reported on March 25.
Regarding variant COVID-19 cases, Alberta identified 191 additional cases of variants of concern on March 24, bringing the provincial total to 2,301, and about 1,400 active. Variant cases now account for 21 per cent of active cases in the province. Of those cases, 881 patients have recovered while 20 have died.
On the vaccination front, 532,171 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered in Alberta as of March 24, according to government figures. To date, 94,347 Albertans are fully immunized with two doses of a vaccine.
With case numbers rising provincially, Alberta's chief medical health officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, spoke about pandemic fatigue during a press conference on March 25.
"I know that we are all so tired of this pandemic, it might feel like the actions that we take on any given day don’t really matter to those around us," she said. "It’s easy to forget that our actions have a real-life impact on people we care about, as well as people we may never meet."
She said Albertans have come too far in their pandemic response to give up now.
"Each of us needs to look at ways that we can help slow or reverse the growth," she said. "This means being extra cautious and making the safe choice tonight, tomorrow and in the weeks ahead. The choices we make now will determine if cases are still growing in the days after Easter."
Similar to Airdrie, Rocky View County's (RVC) number of COVID-19 cases also climbed recently, as 73 active cases were reported as of March 24 – an increase of 12 from March 22. Four schools in RVC are on the provincial COVID-19 status map; Khalsa School Calgary Educational Foundation in Conrich, Springbank Middle School and Edge School in Springbank are all listed under "outbreak" status, with five to nine active cases. Springbank Community High School has been added to the list under "alert status" with two to four active cases.
On the east side of the county, Chestermere reported 54 active cases as of March 24 – an increase of 11 from March 22. Chestermere also reported its first death from the virus on that date.
Out west, Cochrane reported 28 active cases of the virus as of March 24, while four Cochrane schools have confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks. Bow Valley High School is experiencing an outbreak of the virus with more than 10 cases confirmed, while Elizabeth Barrett Elementary School, Fireside School and Cochrane High School are also listed on the government's COVID-19 school status map, with two to four active cases.
