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By Shane Clausing

New COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, positivity rate continuing to fall as Alberta gets set to re-open

Jun 30, 2021 | 8:02 AM

As Alberta gets set to lift all COVID-19 public health restrictions on July 1, the province’s chief medical officer of health gave one of her final live updates on June 29.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw will only hold press conferences when needed if a serious public health situation develops.

Dr. Hinshaw says as the province gets ready to move into Stage 3 on Canada Day, COVID-19 numbers continue to head in the right direction.

“Cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and our positivity rate are the lowest they’ve been since last summer and early fall. Right now, there are only five active cases (of COVID-19) in all of the continuing care facilities in Alberta combined, that is a remarkable number.”

As of June 28, there were 1,132 active cases in the province, which is the fewest since August 26, 2020.

“We should all be proud of these numbers and take heart in them,” said Dr. Hinshaw. “If we all keep making wise choices, and more people get vaccinated, active cases could fall below 500 in a few short weeks.”

While life will get back to normal for Albertans on Canada Day, Dr. Hinshaw reminds everyone that COVID-19 will still be with us.

“COVID-19 is not going away completely. It remains a potentially serious illness that we must keep respecting. As we move into Stage 3, we will continue to offer testing to everyone with symptoms. It’s a reminder if you feel unwell that you stay home and get tested.”

Contact tracing and screening for variants will continue throughout Stage 3.

Masks will also remain mandatory for all staff, physicians and visitors at AHS and Covenant Health facilities.

Dr. Hinshaw said these measures will remain in place for the time being to see what type of impact COVID-19 has on these settings as the province moves into Step 3.

There have been 72.7 per cent of the eligible Alberta population that has been given at least one dose of vaccine, while 40.7 per cent of the population 12 and older are fully vaccinated as of June 28.

Hinshaw says getting fully vaccinated is the best way to stay open for good.

Over the last 16 months, Hinshaw has mentioned that there is light at the end of the tunnel. She says the light is getting much closer.

“The tunnel of needing to have a broad set of public health restrictions to be able to manage the risk of COVID-19, that particular tunnel is coming to an end on Thursday,” explained Hinshaw.

“COVID-19 isn’t over and people need to be thinking about that, but the good news we have right now is that vaccines are highly effective. We have a greater supply than we had anticipated and we have enough to offer all Albertans who want that second dose to get that in the coming months. That is fantastic news.”

by Shane Clausing