EDMONTON (660 NEWS) – As Alberta goes ahead with the first phase of easing restrictions, Dr. Deena Hinshaw confirmed 25 additional cases of COVID-19 variants since Friday.
That brings the province to 96 total cases of the B117 variant, with 46 not linked to travel.
NEW: Alberta found 25 additional variant cases. There have been 96 B117 cases. 46 have no link to travel
— Jeff Slack (@Jeffslack660) February 8, 2021
However, Hinshaw said there has been no spread within schools and they continue to closely monitor COVID-19 cases for variants.
“We are screening most, if not all, positive tests every day for variants of concern,” she said.
With the declining daily numbers, Hinshaw added they have more than enough capacity to screen for variants.
She said more than 120,000 vaccine doses have been administered, with more than 29,000 Albertans becoming fully immunized with two doses.
COVID-19 numbers in the province continue to fall, with 269 new cases on 6,200 tests in the past 24 hours.
Five more Albertans have died.
Latest COVID-19 numbers for Alberta:
– 269 new cases
– 6,200 test completed (PR: 4.3 per cent)
– Five new deaths (total 1,710)
– 432 in hospital, 76 in ICU— Jeff Slack (@Jeffslack660) February 8, 2021
Alberta’s positivity rate sits at 4.3 per cent, while the R-value is 0.87, meaning the trend is still downward.
Latest on the R-value: pic.twitter.com/Rxli5z0Aky
— Jeff Slack (@Jeffslack660) February 8, 2021
“Hospitalizations continue to decline, which is positive news as it relieves pressure on our health care system,” said Hinshaw.
With hospitalizations at 432, well below the maximum of 650 for phase one of the relaxation protocol, and ICU admissions at 76, the numbers look promising for Alberta.
However, Hinshaw said it’s too soon to look toward further relaxed restrictions.
“We deliberately built in a minimum of three weeks between steps to allow us to monitor our hospitalizations, as well as our positivity rate, new cases numbers, and overall growth rate to ensure we’re not seeing a rise in transmission linked to activities that have been opened.”
She said we need to keep a close eye on variant cases and that the reality is there are very few risk-free ways to live with COVID-19.
“We are looking at trends both provincially and regionally to assess the impact of the steps being taken and to monitor for any change in trends.”
