With neither the Pincher Creek region or Cardston County having any increase in active cases yesterday, they have dropped to eighth and seventh, respectively, on the list of highest active cases per 100,000 population in the province.

See details in the community breakdown section below.

In her update today, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health, reminded listeners of the importance of those infected with Covid-19 providing information requested by contact tracers. She noted that many have been unwilling to provide details with regard to others they may have been in contact with, leaving gaps in information required to reduce transmission.

As of yesterday, 152,056 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Alberta and 56,594 people are now immunized with both doses.

There have been 79 adverse reactions to the vaccines in total reported to Alberta Health.

New and active cases of Covid-19

Tuesday, Feb. 16

Data updated Wednesday, Feb. 17

277 new cases in Alberta

3.9% positivity rate

7,476 tested

4,857 active cases

Decrease of 136 active cases from previous day

129,615 total cases to date

14 new cases in south zone

3.6% positivity rate

451 tested

338 active cases

Decrease of 6 active cases from previous day

6,250 total cases to date

103 new cases in Calgary zone

1,823 active cases

Decrease of 64 active cases from previous day

49,791 total cases to date

80 new cases in Edmonton zone

1,270 active cases

Decrease of 63 active cases from previous day

52,847 total cases to date

51 new cases in central zone

697 active cases

Increase of 18 active cases from previous day

9,642 total cases to date

33 new cases in north zone

719 active cases

Decrease of 18 active cases from previous day

10,972 total cases to date

Active cases with zone unknown – 10

Total confirmed variant cases – 225

Increase of 4

Data updated Wednesday, Feb. 17
* Variant data is not updated on weekends

B.1.1.7 variant cases
Variant first identified in the United Kingdom

Alberta total – 218
Increase of 4

South zone total – 0
Increase of 0

Calgary zone total – 94
Increase of 2

Edmonton zone total – 77
Increase of 0

Central zone total – 47
Increase of 2

North zone total – 0
Increase of 0

B.1.351 variant cases
Variant first identified in South Africa

Alberta total – 7
Increase of 0

South zone total – 0
Increase of 0

Calgary zone total – 5
Increase of 0

Edmonton zone total – 2
Increase of 0

Central zone total – 0
Increase of 0

North zone total – 0
Increase of 0

Recovered cases

Tuesday, Feb. 16

Data updated Wednesday, Feb. 17

406 Alberta recoveries

Total recovered – 122,960

Approximate recovery rate – 95%

19 south zone recoveries

Total recovered – 5,830

Approximate recovery rate – 93%

165 Calgary zone recoveries

Total recovered – 47,410

Approximate recovery rate – 95%

140 Edmonton zone recoveries

Total recovered – 50,647

Approximate recovery rate – 96%

33 central zone recoveries

Total recovered – 8,844

Approximate recovery rate – 92%

50 north zone recoveries

Total recovered – 10,126

Approximate recovery rate – 92%

Recovered cases with zone unknown – 103

Hospitalizations and ICU

Tuesday, Feb. 16

Data updated Wednesday, Feb. 17

370 Alberta hospitalizations

Increase of 5 – Feb. 14 to 16 are the first days with increased hospitalizations since Jan. 28

60 ICU admissions

Increase of 4

36 south zone hospitalizations

Decrease of 1

8 ICU admissions

Increase of 0

136 Calgary zone hospitalizations

Increase of 6

27 ICU admissions

Increase of 4

122 Edmonton zone hospitalizations

Increase of 7

21 ICU admissions

Increase of 2

31 central zone hospitalizations

Increase of 1

4 ICU admissions

Decrease of 1

45 north zone hospitalizations

Decrease of 2

0 ICU admissions

Decrease of 1

The zone of current hospitalization and current ICU admission are based on a patient’s location of hospitalization, not the zone of patient residence.

For example, a Pincher Creek resident hospitalized in Calgary would be categorized as an active case in the Pincher Creek region but their hospitalization statistic would show in the Calgary zone.

Deaths related to Covid-19

Tuesday, Feb. 16

Data updated Wednesday, Feb. 17

7 new Alberta deaths

1,798 total

Approximate mortality rate of 1.4%

1 new south zone death

82 total

Today’s update includes the death of a woman in her 90s, which is linked to the outbreak at The View at Lethbridge, in Lethbridge. Condolences are extended to her family and friends.

Approximate mortality rate of 1.3%

2 new Calgary zone deaths

558 total

Approximate mortality rate of 1.1%

3 new Edmonton zone deaths

930 total

Approximate mortality rate of 1.8%

0 new central zone deaths

101 total

Approximate mortality rate of 1.1%

1 new north zone death

127 total

Approximate mortality rate of 1.2%

As of Feb. 16, there were 176 active and 8,907 recovered cases at long-term care facilities and supportive/home-living sites, and 1,171 of the 1,798 deaths (65 per cent) have been in these sites.

Alberta Health shares information regarding deaths as soon as it is available. There can be a delay in a death being reported to Alberta Health or in a death being confirmed post-mortem as having Covid-19 as a contributing cause. The number reported on any given day is typically from multiple days.

Covid-19 R values

Feb. 8 to 14, 2021

Data updated Monday, Feb. 15

R values are provided weekly on Mondays.

Also known as the reproduction number, R values describe whether cases are currently increasing, decreasing or staying the same (i.e. the average number of people someone infected with Covid-19 will infect).

If the R value is one, then an infected person will, on average, infect one other person. If an R value is below one, this means the rate of transmission was decreasing during that period. If it is above one, it was increasing.

The provincial R value stayed the same this week, Edmonton decreased and Calgary stayed the same.

While the rate for the rest of Alberta decreased by 0.02, it is still the highest of all noted values, indicating higher tranismission in areas outside of Alberta’s two largest cities.

0.85 Alberta (provincewide)

Values from Dec. 7 to 13, 2020 to most recent

0.98, 0.92, 0.99, 0.90, 0.84, 0.81, 0.83, 0.87, 0.85

0.78 Edmonton zone

Values from Dec. 7 to 13, 2020 to most recent

1.0, 0.89, 0.92, 0.80, 0.81, 0.81, 0.74, 0.82, 0.78

0.82 Calgary zone

Values from Dec. 7 to 13, 2020 to most recent

0.92, 0.97, 1.02, 0.96, 0.79, 0.83, 0.83, 0.82, 0.82

0.94 rest of Alberta

Values from Dec. 7 to 13, 2020 to most recent

1.01, 0.90, 1.06, 0.97, 0.88, 0.77, 0.90, 0.96, 0.94

South zone outbreaks

Data updated Tuesday, Feb. 16

Outbreaks are updated on Tuesdays and Fridays and are declared over when four weeks have passed with no new cases. This means not all outbreaks listed have current transmission or active cases. Date indicates when outbreak was first reported by Alberta Health.

Acute-care facilities

Outbreak at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital declared over Feb. 16, 2021

Long-term care facilities

The Valleyview in Medicine Hat – Feb. 16

Supportive living/home living sites

Meadowlands in Medicine Hat

The View at Lethbridge in Lethbridge – Jan. 12

Other facilities and settings

Haul All Equipment in Lethbridge – Feb. 2

Lethbridge Alpha House in Lethbridge

Streets Alive Mission in Lethbridge – Jan. 25

School statistics

Tuesday, Feb. 16

Data updated Wednesday, Feb. 17
School information is not provided on weekends or holidays

862 total active school cases

260 schools affected (approximately 11%)

205 schools with alerts

Total cases – 416

55 schools with outbreaks

Total cases – 446

South zone schools

Isabelle Sellon School – Crowsnest Pass
Alert since Feb. 1

Crowsnest Consolidated high School – Crowsnest Pass
Alert since Feb. 1 (single case)

Cardston Junior High School
Alert since Feb. 1

Cardston Elementary School
Alert since Feb. 1

Chinook High School – Lethbridge
Alert since Feb. 10

Catholic Central High School – Lethbridge
Alert since Feb. 11

Gilbert Paterson Middle School – Lethbridge
Alert since Jan. 11
Outbreak since Jan. 27

Wilson Middle School — Lethbridge
Alert since Feb. 16

Winston Churchill High School — Lethbridge
Alert since Feb. 16

Alert = one to four cases
Schools with single cases are not included on the Alberta Health school map

Outbreak = five or more cases

School alerts and outbreaks are considered over when there have been no new confirmed cases in the school for 28 days and remain listed by Alberta Health until that time.

South zone community breakdown

Tuesday, Feb. 16

Data updated Wednesday, Feb. 17

Pincher Creek region – 212 total

26 active cases

182 recovered

4 deaths

0 new cases

2 new recoveries

0 new deaths

311.6 active cases per 100,000 people
8th highest in the province

Pincher Creek region includes the Town of Pincher Creek, Cowley, Piikani Nation and the MD of Pincher Creek and its hamlets of Beaver Mines, Lowland Heights, Lundbreck, Pincher Station and Twin Butte.

Crowsnest Pass – 24 total

0 active cases

24 recovered

0 deaths

0 new cases

0 new recoveries

0 new deaths

0 active cases per 100,000 people

Fort Macleod – 95 total

2 active cases

89 recovered

4 deaths

0 new cases

0 new recoveries

0 new deaths

18.2 active cases per 100,000 people in MD of Willow Creek, not all of which is in the AHS south zone

Cardston County – 548 total

52 active cases

488 recovered

8 deaths

0 new cases

5 new recoveries

0 new deaths

316.5 active cases per 100,000 people
7th highest in the province

I.D. No. 4 (Waterton) – 0 total

0 active cases

0 recovered

0 deaths

0 new cases

0 new recoveries

0 new deaths

0 active cases per 100,000 people

City of Lethbridge – 1,956 total

211 active cases

1,726 recovered

19 deaths

Today’s update includes the death of a woman in her 90s, which is linked to the outbreak at The View at Lethbridge, in Lethbridge. Condolences are extended to her family and friends.

10 new cases

9 new recoveries

1 new death

209.6 active cases per 100,000 people

Lethbridge County – 531 total

14 active cases

510 recovered

7 deaths

1 new case

0 new recoveries

0 new deaths

54.5 active cases per 100,000 people

County of Warner – 161 total

3 active cases

156 recovered

2 deaths

0 new cases

0 new recoveries

0 new deaths

27.0 active cases per 100,000 people

MD of Taber – 334 total

4 active cases

324 recovered

6 deaths

0 new cases

1 new recovery

0 new deaths

21 active cases per 100,000 people

City of Brooks – 1,365 total

1 active case

1,350 recovered

14 deaths

0 new cases

1 new recovery

0 new deaths

5.1 active cases per 100,000 people

County of Newell – 158 total

0 active cases

156 recovered

2 deaths

0 new cases

1 new recovery

0 new deaths

0 active cases per 100,000 people

County of Forty Mile – 117 total

0 active cases

115 recovered

2 deaths

0 new cases

0 new recoveries

0 new deaths

0 active cases per 100,000 people

Cypress County – 146 total

2 active cases

144 recovered

0 deaths

1 new case

0 new recoveries

0 new deaths

17.7 active cases per 100,000 people

City of Medicine Hat – 543 total

20 active cases

509 recovered

14 deaths

2 new cases

0 new recoveries

0 new deaths

29.4 active cases per 100,000 people

Oyen Region – 43 total

1 active case

42 recovered

0 deaths

0 new cases

0 new recoveries

0 new deaths

Special Area 3 – 0 active cases per 100,000 people (1 active in area)

MD of Acadia – 0 active cases per 100,000 people (0 active in area)

Special Area 2 – 22 active cases per 100,000 people (1 active in area, not all of which is in the south zone)