COCHRANE— The number of active COVID-19 cases are continuing to decline in Cochrane and the province.
The Town of Cochrane reported six active cases of COVID-19 as of the end of day Sunday (Feb. 7). To date, the town has identified 316 cases of the virus— 308 people have recovered and two people have died.
In Alberta, 269 new cases of COVID-19 were identified after the completion of 6,196 tests.
The provincial positivity rate currently sits at 4.3 per cent.
COVID-related hospitalizations in the province are continuing to decline with a reported 432 people in the hospital, including 76 in intensive care.
An additional five COVID-related deaths were reported. To date, 1,710 Albertans have died.
Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw noted Monday (Feb. 8) marked the official start of Step One of the soft easement of restrictions in the province.
It was announced Saturday (Feb. 6) limited physical activities for youth would be included in Step One of health measure easements.
“There are many factors that are considered in these decisions such as the impact of current restrictions on children’s mental health and the important role physical activity plays in children’s development,” Hinshaw said.
She noted this decision was made because of the lower risk of transmission in children and the number of school-aged daily cases has continued to trend downwards since in-person learning once again began.
Youth will be able to play in limited sports and related group activities with health measures in place. Measures include physical distancing during play, limits on participants and masking.
“This change was made to support the overall wellbeing of our young people, while still guarding against the spread of COVID-19,” Hinshaw said.
The province has worked to balance the harms of COVID-19 with the harms of restrictions, Hinshaw said. She added the current evidence of the impact on children’s overall health and development caused the province to allow group physical activities with additional precautions
Albertans are excited to see the province reopen, Hinshaw said, but cautioned people must continue to follow health measures to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.
“The phased reopening of activities and opportunities will only succeed if all of us, no matter where we live or work, continue to follow the health measures in place and make choices to keep the slowing spread of COVID-19 across the province,” Hinshaw said. “We must work together to make this happen.”
She noted reducing the spread of the virus is especially important now, given the identification of more contagious COVID-19 variant strains in the province. Hinshaw reported since Friday (Feb. 5) the province had identified 25 additional cases of the variants.
She noted currently less than half of a per cent of cases on any given day coming from variant strains.
To date 96 cases of the variant first identified in the UK have been found, 46 of which are not currently linked to travel.
It is concerning seeing more cases of the variants not linked to travel appearing in the province, Hinshaw said.
“We need to keep a close eye on these cases and take further action to prevent spread if we see these numbers grow,” Hinshaw said. “The reality of this pandemic is that there are very few risk-free ways to live with COVID-19 widely circulating in the province.”
There are 6,196 active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta.
