(Gov't of Alberta YouTube livestream)

By Josh Hall (rdnewsNOW) & Chris Brown (CHAT News Today)

Thursday Update

Dr. Hinshaw hoping Alberta will avoid Halloween spike

Oct 28, 2021 | 4:08 PM

*Today’s statistics are below…

With the province seemingly avoiding a spike in COVID-19 cases following Thanksgiving, Dr. Deena Hinshaw wants to be able to say the same after Halloween.

She said following the basic measures – staying home if you’re feeling unwell, trick-or-treating safely and limiting contact with those outside your household – are simple ways to achieve that.

“These simple precautions can be very effective at limiting the spread of COVID-19 if we all do our part,” the chief medical officer of health said during Thursday’s update.

“We’ve shown they work time and time again. Let’s make good choices to ensure there’s no Halloween spike two weeks from now.”

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Hinshaw also commended Albertans for driving down the fourth wave by getting fully vaccinated and following health measures.

“The last month has shown how powerful that combination is,” she said.

–HALLOWEEN SAFETY TIPS FOR COVID-19

–LISTEN TO WEDNESDAY’S TELEPHONE TOWN HALL WITH DR. HINSHAW ON VACCINES, FERTILITY AND PREGNANCY

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CENTRAL ZONE

Red Deer has 325 active cases of COVID-19, down 28 from Wednesday.

Meantime, recoveries in Red Deer rose by 31 to 8,589 as the total number of COVID-19 cases attributed to Red Deer rose by just four in the last day to 8,990.

Red Deer’s death toll stemming from COVID-19 is now 76, with one reported today.

The Central Zone as a whole has 1,645 active cases as of Thursday, down 77 in the last day.

There are 161 hospitalizations, down seven, and 19 people receiving intensive care at Red Deer Regional Hospital, down one.

Central Zone has recorded 357 deaths, including two reported in the last day.

Active cases across Central Zone (one-day change)

Red Deer County: 112 (-9)

Sylvan Lake: 30 (-3)

Lacombe County: 86 (-13)

City of Lacombe: 86 (-2)

Ponoka County: 190 (-7)

Brazeau County: 53 (-1)

Clearwater County: 107 (-11)

Mountain View County: 57 (–)

Olds: 23 (-2)

Kneehill County: 38 (-1)

County of Stettler: 38 (-3)

VACCINATIONS

Alberta has delivered 6,513,132 vaccine doses as of Oct. 27, up 15,323 in the last day.

86.8 per cent of Alberta’s eligible 12+ population has received at least one dose (73.9% total population), and 79.6 per cent of those eligible are fully vaccinated (67.7% total population).

In Red Deer, 72,440 (79.0% of eligible & 68.1% *total population) people have received at least one dose, up 66. Meanwhile, 66,499 (72.5%/62.5%) are fully vaccinated with two doses, up 173. (*Government of Alberta uses a population of 106,395 for Red Deer; of those 91,672 are eligible)

PROVINCIAL NUMBERS

The active caseload is now 8,387, down 346 from Wednesday. This with the province adding 531 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.

With 10,277 tests conducted over the past 24 hours, the seven-day positivity rate is 5.97 per cent.

There are 779 people currently in hospital with COVID-19, down 31 from Wednesday, with 185 of those patients in ICU, up one from yesterday.

Of the 594 not in ICU, 380 are unvaccinated, 45 have had one dose, and 169 have had two doses.

Of the 185 in ICU, 146 are unvaccinated, 12 have had one dose, and 27 have had two doses.

There have been 12 additional deaths reported to Alberta Health in the last 24 hours, bringing the province’s death toll from the virus now to 3,085.

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SCHOOL OUTBREAK ALERT/OUTBREAK LIST – There are 245 schools with alerts or outbreaks, three of which have 10 active cases or more.

WATCH DR. HINSHAW’S FULL UPDATE BELOW:

(with files from CHAT News Today)