Active COVID-19 cases in Airdrie continued a downward trend Jan. 26, with 90 active cases – a decrease of 12 from the day prior.
According to airdrie.ca, there have been a total of 1,742 cases in Airdrie. Of those, 1,636 people have recovered and 16 deaths have been reported.
Three Airdrie schools are currently listed on the provincial COVID-19 school status map. George McDougall High School has 10 or more positive cases after an outbreak 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 six employees were confirmed to still have the virus as of Jan. 26.
Outside of Airdrie, Rocky View County (RVC) is reporting 58 active cases, which is a decrease of six from from the day previous. On the east side of the county, Chestermere is now at 53 active cases. Out west, Cochrane has remained at 24 active cases.
Two Chestermere schools have been added to 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 were reported there.
Provincially, 366 new cases were identified on Jan. 26, meaning there have been a total of 121,901 cases of COVID-19 in Alberta as of that date. Of the total cases, 8,652 are considered active, 111,662 people have recovered, 626 patients are in hospital and 108 Albertans are in intensive care units. In total, 1,587 deaths have been reported in the province due to the virus, including 14 new deaths reported on Jan. 26.
On the vaccination front, delayed deliveries of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have continued to stall progress. As of Jan. 25, 99,814 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Alberta, meaning fewer than 400 doses were administered in the last 24 hours. To date, 10,174 Albertans have been fully immunized with two doses of a vaccine. Twenty-eight 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. 26 update the Province is monitoring the spread of COVID-19 closely in Alberta, and continues to discuss when it may be safe to begin easing restrictions.
"I know that many Albertans and impacted businesses are eager to reopen, and wishing we would move more quickly," she said. "This is understandable, and I wish it were not necessary to keep the current measures in place for a little while longer. But we must be cautious, recognizing that the health system in all parts of the province remains under strain."
Hinshaw said the rise of new variants in Alberta and around the world also makes it vital that we not move too quickly, which could have "dire consequences for our health system and our health."
"Police agencies and Public Health Inspectors continue to respond to complaints about facilities failing to practice appropriate COVID-19 protocols," Hinshaw said. "AHS and law enforcement always seek to work collaboratively with businesses and organizations to ensure compliance to the orders in place. It is only when significant risk is demonstrated or continued non-compliance is noted that health inspectors resort to enforcement action, but they will enforce orders when needed."
