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In Shootin’ the Breeze’s direct readership footprint, 242 cases of Covid-19 have been reported since March 5, 2020. This includes 218 in the Pincher Creek area and 24 in Crowsnest Pass.

The Pincher Creek area includes the town of Pincher Creek, MD of Pincher Creek (rural and Beaver Mines, Lowland Heights, Lundbreck, Pincher Station and Twin Butte), Piikani Nation and Cowley.

There are no active cases in the Pass and Pincher Creek area is down to three.

Ninety-seven per cent of those who tested positive have recovered, but four community members in the Pincher Creek area have died.

South zone

In the south zone as a whole, there have been 6,638 reported cases of Covid-19, of which 341 are active. There have been 92 deaths and 6,205 recoveries.

I.D. No. 4 (Waterton) is the only area with no cases reported in this first year.

Crowsnest Pass, the Oyen area and the County of Forty Mile are the other south-zone regions currently with zero active cases.

If previous terminology was used to classify regions based on active cases per 100,000 people, all would be open right now with the exception of Cardston County, the City of Lethbridge and Lethbridge County.

Twenty deaths have been in the City of Lethbridge, 17 in Medicine Hat, 14 in Brooks, 12 in Cardston County, seven in Lethbridge County, six in the MD of Taber, four each in the Pincher Creek area and Fort Macleod, three in the County of Warner and two each in the counties of Newell and Warner.

Only Crowsnest Pass, Cypress County and Waterton have been untouched by deaths related to Covid-19.

Twenty-nine people are hospitalized, representing 8.5 per cent of active cases. This is the highest hospitalization rate in the province. Six of these people (21 per cent) are in intensive case, the second-highest rate after the central zone.

Cardston County continues to have a high number of active cases and sits sixth in the province today.

There are four schools with alerts and one on outbreak – all in Lethbridge.

Outbreak protocols are in place at the Cardston Health Centre and at Chinook Regional Hospital.

There are seven other outbreak settings as well, affecting Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and Taber.

The province is in a modified Step 2 of reopening as increasing active cases and variants remain a concern.

There are 563 variant cases confirmed in Alberta, none of which are in the south zone.

Vaccination update

Health Canada approved the Johnson and Johnson vaccine today. While Minister Shandro said this afternoon there is currently no supply schedule in place, this will help the Alberta Health achieve its goal of offering a first vaccine dose to everyone aged 18 and over by the end of June.

Covid-19 vaccinations continue, with 90,486 people now fully immunized with both doses and a total of 275,719 doses administered across the province.

The shots have led to a total of 117 adverse reactions to date, representing 0.04 per cent, or about four in 10,000.

Phase 2A vaccinations begin the week of March 15. This includes Albertans aged 65 to 74 and First Nations, Inuit and Metis people aged 50 and older, no matter where they live. Also included are staff and residents of licensed supportive-living (seniors) facilities not included in Phase 1.

Group B includes Albertans aged 18 to 64 with high-risk underlying health conditions. Specific conditions will be provided prior to roll-out.

Group C includes residents and staff of eligible congregate living settings, health-care workers providing direct and acute patient care with high potential for spread to high-risk individuals and caregivers of those most at risk of severe outcomes.

Group D includes Albertans aged 50 to 64, no matter where they live, and First Nations, Inuit and Metis people aged 35 to 49 on or off reserve or Metis settlements.

AstraZeneca vaccinations are available beginning March 10 for those in Group D who would like to receive the shot early. Those preferring the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines will wait until Phase 2D begins in May.

Vaccinations for those in Groups B to D will be provided between April and June based on supply.

Covid-19 in Alberta – 135,196 total

4,639 active cases
128,644 recovered
563 variant cases
1,913 Covid-related deaths

The province has 411 new cases, 383 recoveries, two deaths and a net increase of 26 active cases.

Twenty-two of the new cases confirmed are variant strains.

Alberta now has 553 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the United Kingdom and 10 cases of the B.1.351 variant first identified in South Africa.

A decrease of two hospitalizations brings the total to 243 and ICU admissions are down three to 44.

With 10,559 tests conducted, the positivity rate is 3.9 per cent (up from 3.5 per cent the previous day) and the recovery rate is 95 per cent.

The provincial mortality rate remains at 1.4 per cent.

As of March 3, there are 119 active cases among seniors living in long-term care homes and supportive/home-living sites. Recoveries now number 9,090 but 1,215 deaths at these facilities represent 64 per cent of Alberta’s total.

Active cases with unknown zone – 11
Recovered cases with unknown zone – 93
Deaths with unknown zone – 0

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

Covid-19 in South Zone – 6,638 total

341 active cases
6,205 recovered
Zero variant cases
92 Covid-related deaths

The south zone has 26 new cases of Covid-19 and 11 recoveries for an increase of 15 active cases.

Hospitalizations are down by one to 29 and ICU admissions remain at six.

With 699 tests conducted, the positivity rate is 3.7 per cent (up slightly from 3.6 the previous day) and the recovery rate is 93 per cent.

The south-zone mortality rate is 1.4 per cent.

Detailed information for all individual south-zone areas is provided below.

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 is categorized as an active case in the Pincher Creek region, but their hospitalization statistic will show in the Calgary zone.

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Covid-19 in Calgary Zone – 51,722 total

16,54 active cases
49,477 recovered
226 variant cases
591 Covid-related deaths

The Calgary zone has 145 new cases of Covid-19, 135 recoveries, one death and a net increase of nine active cases.

There are now 218 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant (an increase of eight) and eight cases of B.1.351.

Seventy-seven are hospitalized with 14 in ICU.

The recovery rate is 96 per cent and the mortality rate is 1.1 per cent.

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Covid-19 in Edmonton Zone – 54,173 total

1,101 active cases
52,097 recovered
215 variant cases
975 Covid-related deaths

The Edmonton zone has 87 new cases of Covid-19, 67 recoveries, one death and a net increase of 19 active cases.

There are 213 cases of B.1.1.7 (an increase of 12) and two cases of B.1.351.

Seventy-three are hospitalized with 14 in ICU.

The recovery rate is 96 per cent and the mortality rate is 1.8 per cent.

Covid-19 in Central Zone – 10,333 total

527 active cases
9,691 recovered
117 variant cases
115 Covid-related deaths

The central zone has 56 new cases of Covid-19 and 74 recoveries for a net decrease of 18 active cases.

There are 117 cases of B.1.1.7 (an increase of one).

Thirty-five people are hospitalized with nine in ICU.

The recovery rate is 94 per cent and the mortality rate is 1.1 per cent.

Covid-19 in North Zone – 12,226 total

1,005 active cases
101,081 recovered
5 variant cases
140 Covid-related deaths

The north zone has 93 new cases of Covid-19, 97 recoveries and a net decrease of four active cases.

There are five cases of the B.1.1.7 variant (an increase of one).

Twenty-nine people are hospitalized with one in ICU.

The recovery rate is 91 per cent and the mortality rate is 1.2 per cent.

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R values

Feb. 22 to 28, 2021

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.

An R value below one means the rate of transmission was decreasing during that period and if it is above one, it was increasing.

Current rates are in bold. As an indication of trends, values below are statistics from Dec. 7 to 13, 2020, to the most recent.

1.01 Alberta (provincewide)

0.98, 0.92, 0.99, 0.90, 0.84, 0.81, 0.83, 0.87, 0.85, 1.03, 1.01

1.16 Edmonton zone

1.0, 0.89, 0.92, 0.80, 0.81, 0.81, 0.74, 0.82, 0.78, 0.93, 1.16

1.01 Calgary zone

0.92, 0.97, 1.02, 0.96, 0.79, 0.83, 0.83, 0.82, 0.82, 0.95, 1.01

0.94 rest of Alberta

1.01, 0.90, 1.06, 0.97, 0.88, 0.77, 0.90, 0.96, 0.94, 1.13, 0.94

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South zone Covid-19 outbreaks

Alberta Health updates outbreak information on Tuesdays and Fridays. Outbreak alerts remain active until four weeks pass with no new cases, and not all outbreaks listed have current transmission or active cases.

Dates indicate when outbreaks are first reported by Alberta Health.

Acute-care centres

Outbreak protocols are in place at Cardston Health Centre after a positive Covid-19 test in a patient on Feb. 25. A total of three patients have tested positive to date and one death is associated with this outbreak.

An outbreak was declared Feb, 28 on the acute-care unit at Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge. To date, one patient associated with this unit has tested positive. Visitation to this hospital unit is restricted to end-of-life situations.

Long-term care facilities

The Valleyview in Medicine Hat – Feb. 16

Supportive-living and home-living sites

Edith Cavell Care Centre in Lethbridge – Feb. 26

The View at Lethbridge in Lethbridge – Jan. 12

Quest Support group home in Lethbridge – Feb. 23

Other facilities and settings

Haul All Equipment in Lethbridge – Feb. 2

Lethbridge Alpha House in Lethbridge – Dec. 7, 2020

Safe Haven Women’s Shelter in Taber ­– March 1

School statistics

Updates of school stats are provided on weekdays by Alberta Health.

South zone schools as of Mar. 4

Alert has ended today for Chinook High School in Lethbridge

Catholic Central High School in Lethbridge – alert since Feb. 11

Wilson Middle School in Lethbridge – alert since Feb. 16

Winston Churchill High School in Lethbridge – alert since Feb. 16 and outbreak since Feb. 17

St. Francis Junior High School in Lethbridge ­– alert since Feb. 28

Ecole St. Mary School in Lethbridge – alert since Mar. 2

South-zone community breakdown

New cases, recoveries and deaths are in comparison to stats from the previous day.

Pincher Creek area – 218 total

3 active cases
210 recovered
5 Covid-related deaths

The Pincher Creek area has no changes today.

The rate of active cases per 100,000 people is 36.

Pincher Creek area 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

Zero active cases
24 recovered
Zero Covid-related deaths

Crowsnest Pass has no changes today.

The rate of active cases per 100,000 people is zero with the last new case reported Jan. 30.

Fort Macleod – 101 total

5 active cases
92 recovered
4 Covid-related deaths

Fort Macleod has no changes today.

The rate of active cases per 100,000 people is 30 in the MD of Willow Creek, not all of which is in the AHS south zone.

Cardston County – 621 total

52 active cases
557 recovered
12 Covid-related deaths

Cardston County has two new cases and three recoveries for a net decrease of one active case.

The rate of active cases per 100,000 people is 316 and Cardston County has climbed again to sixth highest in the province.

I.D. No. 4 (Waterton) – Zero total

Waterton is the only region in the south zone to be Covid-free.

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City of Lethbridge – 2,220 total

239 active cases
1,961 recovered
20 Covid-related deaths

The City of Lethbridge has 21 new cases and five recoveries for a net increase of 16 active cases.

The rate of active cases per 100,000 people is 237.

Lethbridge County – 549 total

16 active cases
526 recovered
7 Covid-related deaths

There are no changes for Lethbridge County today.

The rate of active cases per 100,000 people is 62.

County of Warner – 163 total

1 active case
159 recovered
3 Covid-related deaths

The County of Warner today has one new case today.

The rate of active cases per 100,000 people is zero.

MD of Taber – 340 total

4 active cases
330 recovered
6 Covid-related deaths

The MD of Taber reports one new recovery today.

The rate of active cases per 100,000 people is 21.

Brooks – 1,362 total

1 active case
1,347 recovered
14 Covid-related deaths

There are no changes for Brooks today.

The rate of active cases per 100,000 people is five.

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County of Newell – 160 total

1 active case
157 recovered
2 Covid-related deaths

The County of Newell has no changes today.

The rate of active cases per 100,000 people is 13.

County of Forty Mile – 117 total

Zero active cases
115 recovered
2 Covid-related deaths

The County of Forty Mile has no changes today.

The rate of active cases per 100,000 people is zero.

Cypress County – 145 total

1 active case
144 recovered
Zero Covid-related deaths

Cypress County has no changes today.

The rate of active cases per 100,000 people is nine.

Medicine Hat – 558 total

17 active cases
524 recovered
17 Covid-related deaths

Medicine Hat has one new case has two recoveries.

The rate of active cases per 100,000 people is 25.

Oyen area – 43 total

Zero active cases
43 recovered
Zero Covid-related deaths

The Oyen area has no changes today.

The rate of active cases per 100,000 people is zero.

The Oyen area includes Special Areas 2 and 3, and the MD of Acadia.

With no active cases, the rate of active cases per 100,000 people in Special Area 3 is zero.

The rate of active cases per 100,000 people in the MD of Acadia is zero.

There is one active case in Special Area 2, the equivalent of 22 active cases per 100,000 people. Not all of this area is in the AHS south zone.

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Statistics in this post are current as of the end of day, Mar. 4 and updated Mar. 5, 2021. It is compiled from information provided by Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services.

Please email publisher@shootinthebreeze.ca if you have any questions regarding this or any other post.

Read more news from Pincher Creek and Crowsnest Pass

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