Restrictions remain in place until Jan. 12

Despite the gradual flattening of the curve of infections in recent weeks Health Minister Tyler Shandro and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw continue to stress the threat COVID-19 poses to the health care system in Alberta.

“To be clear, they’re still too high, we need them a lot lower,” said Shandro.

Asked when the province plans to announce whether restrictions will be lifted or extended, Shandro said the cabinet’s COVID committee is meeting later this week to review the data from the holidays.

“The reliability of some of the holiday testing has to be looked at in a particular way because not as many people wanted to get tested during the holidays,” he said.

“These restrictions are at least in place until January 12,” said Shandro.

There were 843 new cases of COVID-19 and 26 new deaths reported in Alberta on Jan. 5, including two continuing care workers located in Calgary and Edmonton.

“We thank these two people for their service to the province. And we join you in honoring their memory,” said Shandro.

Around the Lakeland, communities continue to see modest decreases in active cases and lower numbers of new cases.

According to Hinshaw, the province’s positivity rate is approximately 8.2 per cent. She said they are starting to see a stabilization in cases, but overall “new case numbers, hospitalizations, and ICU admissions for COVID-19 are still very high in our province.”

She asked for everyone to continue following the public health measures in place and limit in person interactions whenever possible.

“That is the only way to protect our health system, protect each other and limit the spread in the weeks ahead,” said Hinshaw, urging Albertans to adopt as many of the recommendations as possible in addition to the legal requirements.

“We really have to collectively work together to bring this spread down,” said Hinshaw.