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Airdrie and area communities see drop in COVID-19 cases

Airdrie has seen a drop in cases as it is now reporting 156 active, which is down 18 from the day previous.
COVID-19

Airdrie has seen another drop in COVID-19 cases, as the city is now reporting 156 active cases – down 18 from numbers reported by the Alberta government on Jan. 4.

According to airdrie.ca, the city has reported 1,561 cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. Of those, 1,396 people have recovered and nine deaths have been reported. Currently, Airdrie carries a case rate of 222 per 100,000 population. 

Other municipalities in the region also experienced a decrease in cases on Jan 5; Rocky View County (RVC) is reporting 81 active cases, down six since Jan. 4. Chestermere is reporting 52 active cases – down six since Jan. 5 – and Cochrane is reporting 43 cases, 13 fewer than the day previous.

Local facilities currently under the Alberta government's list of COVID-19 outbreaks include the Bethany Airdrie retirement home, which reported 40 active cases on its Jan. 4 daily bulletin, and the Hamlets at Cedarwood Station retirement home. However, the general manager of the Hamlets at Cedarwood Station, Loy Pacheco, said the facility was lifted from its outbreak status on Jan. 2.

Outbreaks in RVC include the Amazon fulfilment centre and the Walmart logistics centre, both of which are located in East Balzac.

Provincially, there have been a total of 106,378 cases of the virus, with 843 new cases reported Jan. 5. Of the total cases, 13,411 are considered active, 91,799 people have recovered, 919 COVID-19 patients are in hospital and 140 are in intensive care units. In total, 1,168 deaths have been reported in the province due to the virus, including an additional 26 reported on Jan. 5. 

The Province's immunization program continues to administer the COVID-19 vaccine across Alberta. As of Jan. 4, 26,269 doses of the vaccine have been administered, according to government data.

During Dr. Deena Hinshaw's daily update on Jan. 5, she addressed "inaccurate information" that had been circulating in regard to Albertans believing that doses of vaccine were being wasted or thrown away deliberately.

"We are working hard to immunize Albertans as quickly and safely as possible," she said. "Once thawed and brought to room temperature, the vaccine must be used within a few hours. We know this and have worked with Alberta Health Services (AHS) to put clear processes in place to prevent doses from being wasted. Each dose is thawed and then prepared according to pre-scheduled appointments booked online."

Hinshaw said AHS has been instructed to overbook appointment slots to ensure someone is always in line.

"In the rare case that there is a dose left in a vial and no patient is available, AHS will immunize the on-site staff to ensure that no dose is going to waste," she said. "In any immunization program, a small amount of vaccine will occasionally be lost when drawing doses, or if a vial is dropped or spilled. Some human errors are unavoidable, but these are being kept extremely limited thanks to the proven processes that we have in place."

Hinshaw added so far there has been no significant waste of COVID-19 vaccines. 

"The small proportion of doses that have been lost is lower than what we see in an average influenza season and is a testament to the steps that AHS has put in place," she said. "Every dose counts, and we want to immunize as many Albertans as possible."

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