Airdrie's number of active COVID-19 cases decreased significantly over the Christmas break.
According to airdrie.ca, there were 160 active cases reported as of Dec. 28, a decrease of 94 from Dec. 22, when numbers were last updated. Since the onset of the pandemic, 1,457 total cases have been reported in Airdrie, with 1,289 recoveries and eight deaths.
Outside of Airdrie, Rocky View County (RVC) has reported seven additional cases since Dec. 22, but the county's active case count has dropped down to 102. RVC's case rate is currently 219 cases per 100,000 population.
As for other municipalities in the region, Chestermere is currently reporting 66 active cases – down 21 from Dec. 22 – while Cochrane is reporting 53 cases, which is 12 more since Dec. 22.
Provincially, there has been a total of 92,480 cases in Alberta. Of those, 18,311 are considered active, 73,298 have recovered, 802 COVID-19 patients are in hospital and 152 are in intensive care units.
From Dec. 23 to Dec. 28, the Province reported 4,488 new cases. According to government data, there are 878 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 148 in intensive care units.
As of Dec. 28, there were 15,487 active cases in Alberta. Over the five-day break, the province reported a a total of 112 deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total to 1,002.
Alberta's chief medical health officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, said in her Dec. 28 briefing that to date, more than 6,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been administered in the province.
"The work will continue as more vaccine arrives and more vaccine gets distributed around the province," she said.
Hinshaw also said the Province has identified a single case of a new COVID-19 variant in Alberta that originated in the United Kingdom. Though the mutation is no more severe than the original virus, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) stated Dec. 26 the variant may spread more rapidly and easily.
"While early data suggests that these new variants may be more transmissible, to date there is no evidence that they cause more severe disease or have any impact on antibody response or vaccine effectiveness," stated PHAC. "More research is required to confirm these findings and the Canadian and global medical, public health and research communities are actively evaluating these mutations."
Hinshaw did not specify in which health zone in Alberta the case was identified, but that the person had recently arrived from the U.K.
"The good news is that this individual did everything they were supposed to do, following quarantine and other public health measures, and at this point there is no evidence that there has been any further spread," she said. "It is important to remember that the public health measures in place are protective against this variant, and the best thing we can do to protect each other is to follow them."
