Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw announced changes to the Calgary zone due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

As Calgary schools are operating from home due to increasing cases, Dr. Hinshaw announced that extracurricular youth sport activities in Calgary will either be paused or must operate outside during the two week period students are learning from home.

Alberta saw another high number of 1,646 new cases of the virus which is a new record for the third wave of infection. The highest number of new cases reported in one day occurred on December 4, 2020 with 1,873 cases.

“As I said before we are seeing a sharper rise of active cases among younger Albertans in this third wave along with all other age groups,” said Hinshaw.

Dr. Hinshaw took the time to discuss the safety of AstraZeneca which is available in some locations in Calgary and Edmonton through walk-in appointments. The risk of blood clots in those who have received AstraZeneca remains rare with no cases occurring in Alberta and only one in Canada. However, the Hinshaw noted that the risk for a blood clot in a patient with COVID-19 is one in four.

“The global frequency of VITT (Vaccine Induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia)  has been estimated at approximately 1 case in 100,000 to 250,000 doses of vaccine. In Alberta, someone between the ages of 55 and 59 who is diagnosed with COVID-19 has a 1 in 200 chance of dying from that infection. Risks are even higher of ICU admission and hospitalization – Albertans between the ages of 55 and 64 are at least 1,500 times more likely to be hospitalized from COVID-19 than experience VITT after getting AstraZeneca," said Hinshaw. 

She continues to encourage Albertans to get the vaccine to help drive down transmission rates eliminate the chance of serious complications that could arise from getting COVID-19.

April 14th new case numbers:

  • 1,646 new cases of the virus for April 13th
  • 16,223 active cases in Alberta
  • 416 people are hospitalized
  • 86 people admitted to ICUs
  • 5 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours
  • 2,034 total deaths from the virus
  • 8,682 active case variants in Alberta (960 in the Central Zone)
  • Variants of concern make up 53.5 per cent of active cases

Active case numbers in the Central Alberta area:

  • 65 active cases in the City of Lacombe
  • 72 active cases in the County of Lacombe
  • 318 active cases in the City of Red Deer
  • 83 active cases in the County of Red Deer
  • 180 active cases in the County of Ponoka
  • 43 active cases in the Town of Sylvan Lake
  • 13 active cases in the County of Stettler
  • 58 active cases in the County of Mountain View

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