Airdrie's COVID-19 active COVID-19 case numbers remain similar to last week, as easing of business restrictions begins to take place in Alberta.
According to the provincial COVID-19 regional status map, there are 59 active cases of the virus in Airdrie as of Feb. 6. There have been a total of 1,791 cases locally, with 1,711 Airdronians having recovered from the virus and 17 deaths being reported.
Beginning Feb. 8, bars and restaurants are allowed to reopen provincially with reduced capacities and health measures in place. In addition, indoor fitness facilities will be permitted to offer one-on-one personal training services and school/minor sports teams will be able to resume practice sessions. Games and inter-team competition are still prohibited, however.
According to a recent update from Premier Jason Kenney, additional restrictions will be lifted as hospitalizations resulting from COVID-19 continue to drop. The thresholds for eased restrictions include 600, 450, 300 and 150 hospitalizations province-wide.
There are currently five outbreaks of COVID-19 in local schools. Bert Church High School and George McDougall High School are listed under "outbreak" status, with five to nine cases of COVID-19 each. St. Veronica School, École francophone d'Airdrie and Herons Crossing School are listed under "alert" status, which means they have reported two to four cases each.
Elsewhere in Airdrie, the Bethany Care Centre remains the sole local local facility on the government's list of COVID-19 outbreaks. According to the retirement home's daily bulletin, one employee was confirmed to still have the virus as of Feb. 5.
Outside of Airdrie, Rocky View County (RVC) is reporting 43 active cases as of Feb. 6. Outbreaks are currently reported at three facilities in Balzac, including the Harmony Beef meat processing plant, the Wal-Mart logistics centre and the Amazon Fulfilment Centre.
In RVC, Khalsa School Calgary Educational Foundation has been added to the COVID-19 school status map under "alert" status.
On the east side of the county, Chestermere is now at 53 active cases, while out west, Cochrane is down to just six cases.
Some Chestermere schools also continue to be impacted by the virus. Prairie Waters Elementary School is listed under "alert" status on the government's COVID-19 school status map, while Chestermere High School and Chestermere Lake Middle School have been listed under "outbreak" status.
Provincially, 351 new cases of COVID-19 were identified on Feb. 6. The new cases mean there have been a total of 126,767 cases province-wide since the pandemic began. Of the total cases, 6,242 are active, 118,816 people have recovered, 434 patients are in hospital and 81 Albertans are in intensive care units. In total, 1,709 deaths have been reported in the province due to the virus.
As of Feb. 6, 118,384 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Alberta. To date, 27,048 Albertans have been fully immunized with two doses of a vaccine. Fifty-seven adverse events following immunization have been reported to Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services (AHS).
