Alberta will not be moving into step 3 of the path forward plan today due to the rising number of hospitalizations. It was determined that Alberta’s path forward would be determined based on the number of patients in hospital with COVID-19 and because those numbers have been increasing Health Minister Tyler Shandro says the province will not be lifting restrictions at this time.

 “The decline that we saw in January and February has stopped. Alberta now sits at 280 COVID hospitalizations which is a rise of 16 from a week ago. This is a problem and a warning sign that we must take seriously,” said Shandro.

There have also been an increasing number of active cases in the province. Alberta currently has a positivity rate of 6.1 per cent. Shandro believes it is likely we will see 300 patients in hospital within a week.

“This is the safe move. It’s the smart move to make for our province right now to help us avoid a third wave that would take more lives and once again put more pressure on the hospital system,” said Shandro.

With vaccination underway many of those in hospital are under the age of 65. 46 per cent of Albertans in a hospital are under the age of 65 and 88 percent of those in ICU are 65 and under.

Last week, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said it may be a possibility to lift gathering restrictions in the province in order to make the current restrictions a little more manageable for Albertans. However, given the rate of growth the province is currently experiencing she says that will not be possible.

“Unfortunately, as we have seen cases, variants, and hospitalizations continue to rise in recent days, we cannot take the risk of lifting any measures at this point,” said Hinshaw.  

She urges Albertans to make an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to prevent rising numbers and more cases of COVID-19.

March 22th new case numbers:

  • 456 new cases of the virus for March 20th
  • 6,176 active cases in Alberta
  • 280 people are hospitalized
  • 48 people admitted to ICUs
  • 5 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours
  • 1,968 total deaths from the virus
  • 1,691 UK variant cases of COVID-19 identified (283 in the Central Zone)
  • 18 South African variant cases of COVID-19 identified (0 in the Central Zone)
  • 2 Brazilian variant of COVID-19 identified (0 in the Central Zone)

 

Active case numbers in the Central Alberta area:

  • 41 active cases in the City of Lacombe
  • 45 active cases in the County of Lacombe
  • 124 active cases in the City of Red Deer
  • 20 active cases in the County of Red Deer
  • 119 active cases in the County of Ponoka
  • 22 active cases in the Town of Sylvan Lake
  • 7 active cases in the County of Stettler
  • 13 active cases in the County of Mountain View

**Not all cases in the Central Zone have been included.