Everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Wednesday, April 21 - CBC.ca

The latest COVID-19 numbers and restrictions:

• Alberta reported 1,345 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday — with a positivity rate of 10.4 per cent — as the province continues to see case counts in the range seen last December during the height of the pandemic's second wave.
• Alberta's total active cases now sits at 18,481, up from 18,424 on Monday.
• As of Tuesday, about 43 per cent of the active cases were in Calgary, while a quarter were in Edmonton.
• More than 153,000 Albertans have recovered from COVID-19.
• The more dangerous and highly transmissible variant cases continue to surge and are now the dominant strains of the virus in Alberta, accounting for 56.9 per cent of total active cases.
• There were 476 people in hospital, 105 of whom are in intensive care. Five more people have died, for a total of 2,048 deaths.
• The provincial positivity rate is 10.4 per cent, and the R-value is 1.09.
• There were alerts or outbreaks at 567 schools —23 per cent of all schools in Alberta — with 3,208 cases in total. 

(Note the latest daily count of new cases in the above chart will usually vary slightly from the net new cases Alberta Health announces each day. For more on why, click here.)

The latest on vaccines:

• As of Tuesday, 1,196,428 doses of vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-Oxford) have been administered in Alberta and 239,277 people have been fully vaccinated. 
• Premier Jason Kenney thanked eligible Albertans ages 40-55 for their overwhelming response in signing up to receive the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, after an additional 575,425 people in that age group were made eligible to book on Tuesday.
• More than 36,000 Albertans booked appointments with Alberta Health Services on Tuesday to get AstraZeneca.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, gets her first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Tuesday, while Premier Jason Kenney is getting his later in the week. 'I am protecting myself, my family & my community. AZ remains a smart choice if you are 40+ & not part of phase 2B/C so you can get your vaccine quickly,' Hinshaw tweeted. (AHS)

• People wanting a shot can also book through the AHS online booking tool and through Health Link 811. Many pharmacies are also taking bookings, although some haven't received the vaccine.
• AHS said 2,726 Albertans got AstraZeneca at provincial sites on Tuesday.
• Alberta had 160,000 doses of AstraZeneca left as of late Tuesday and it's not yet known when the next shipment will arrive.
• Calgary's walk-in COVID-19 immunization site has moved to the Telus Convention Centre. Edmonton's mass clinic remains at the Edmonton Expo Centre. At about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, AHS said the Telus Convention Centre is at capacity and no longer accepting walk-ins Wednesday. 
• NDP Leader Rachel Notley urged Kenney and his United Conservative Party government to work with her to fast-track legislation to allow people to get three hours off with pay if necessary to get vaccinated. Kenney said he would get back to Notley on Wednesday.
• Alberta officials say they are battling some hesitancy brought on by reports of extremely rare blood clots occurring in people who have received AstraZeneca, also known as Covishield.
• The risk of a blood clot is exponentially higher for people who become infected with COVID-19 than for those who receive AstraZeneca, Hinshaw has repeatedly stressed.
• About one in four people hospitalized with COVID-19 get blood clots, she said, while Canada has seen just two cases of blood clots associated with more than 700,000 AstraZeneca doses given out. 
• People are far more likely to experience blood clots from smoking, falls/injuries and other common occurrences.
• Conversely, AstraZeneca's first dose reduces infection by 60 to 70 per cent, and hospitalization and risk of death is reduced by 80 per cent. 

• Meanwhile, Phase 2C of the rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines began on April 12, expanding to include 240,000 nurses, doctors, dentists and any health-care workers in patient care facilities or providing direct patient care in the community.
• Other groups in 2C — such as residents and support staff at congregate living facilities at risk for large outbreaks like correctional facilities, homeless shelters, meat-packing plants and group homes, and caregivers of Albertans at risk of severe outcomes — are expected to begin in the following weeks. 

Premier Jason Kenney is urging all eligible Albertans to get their COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, even if it is not their first-choice vaccine. “This vaccine works,” he says of AstraZeneca. 2:09

The latest on more dangerous variants:

• There were 816 new cases involving variants of concern on Tuesday.
• There were 10,520 active variant cases, which comprise 56.9 per cent of all active cases.
• 8,026 people have recovered and 57 people have died from variant infections.
• Alberta has 18,390 cases linked to variant B117, first detected in the United Kingdom, 31 cases linked to variant B1351, first detected in South Africa, and 182 cases linked to variant P1, now spreading in Brazil.

The latest on restrictions and reopenings:

• On April 6, the Alberta government reimposed Step 1 restrictions, including closing restaurants and bars to in-person dining, lowering retail store capacity to 15 per cent and banning low-intensity group fitness activities.
• Communities on both sides of the Alberta-B.C. border are bracing for travel restrictions that the B.C. government says will come Friday.
• B.C. Premier John Horgan said Monday that travel restrictions would be in place through the Victoria Day weekend in May.
• Edmonton and Fort McMurray public and Catholic schools have shifted all students in grades 7 to 12 to online learning for two weeks, after Calgary public and Catholic schools did the same Monday.

See which regions are being hit hardest:

Here is the detailed regional breakdown of active cases as reported Tuesday by the province:

• Calgary zone: 8,098, up from 8,025 reported on Monday (60,065 recovered).
• Edmonton zone: 4,899, up from 4,887 (57,567 recovered).
• North zone: 2,543, down from 2,575 (14,881 recovered).
• South zone: 969, up from 938 (8,442 recovered).
• Central zone: 1,900, down from 1,930 (12,026 recovered).
• Unknown: 72, up from 69 (21 recovered).

You can see active cases by local health area on the following interactive map. Scroll, zoom and click on the map for more information:

Find out which neighbourhoods or communities have the most cases, how hard people of different ages have been hit, the ages of people in hospital, how Alberta compares to other provinces and more in: Here are the latest COVID-19 statistics for Alberta — and what they mean.

Here are the latest Alberta COVID-19 stories:

How Alberta compares to other provinces and territories:

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Everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Wednesday, April 21 - CBC.ca
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