ATHABASCA - The number of recoveries from COVID-19 have increased in the Athabasca area, but the number of active cases in the region has fallen by just one since last Monday.
On Jan. 29, the Government of Alberta's geospatial map reported 23 active cases at a rate of 175.9 per 100,000 residents in Athabasca County, the Town of Athabasca, and the Village of Boyle, with a population of the three municipalities of 13,073. That's down from 242.5 on Jan. 11; 204.6 on Jan. 18; and 181.9 on Jan. 25. That population figure used to arrive at that number was updated from 13,196 in Friday's numbers.
The region is down by one active case since Jan. 25, with recoveries rising to 170 from 165, and total cases to 193. There have been no deaths in the Athabasca area.
Active cases in the Boyle area remain at 10, and have been hovering around that mark, give or take a couple cases, for several weeks. There have been 65 cases in all.
The Boyle area is bordered to the southeast by Smoky Lake County, where there are now 30 active cases, down from 60 last Monday. The active case rate sits at 358.1 per 100,000 with 8,378 residents.
Thorhild County, to the south, reached and maintained zero cases for two weeks, but reported two new active cases, making for 37 total cases. The County of Barrhead had also reached zero active cases last week, but now list three. There have also been two deaths in that area.
Westlock County reports 11 active cases and 158 recoveries, with a single death reported.
The M.D. of Lesser Slave River, to the west, has 29 active cases and 160 recoveries.
To the north, in the M.D. of Opportunity, active cases are down to 70. There have been 246 recoveries there, and one reported death. The active case rate is 1,061.1 per 100,000 residents and a population of 6,597. East of Athabasca County in Lac La Biche County, there are 62 active cases, all but two within the Hamlet of Lac La Biche, along with 253 recoveries altogether. There have also been eight deaths.
Mandatory restrictions were extended indefinitely last Thursday, but some were eased before that, Jan. 18, for hair dressers, barber shops, esthetics, reflexology, piercing and tattoo businesses were allowed to reopen Jan. 18, by appointment only. Premier Jason Kenney announced Friday a schedule to relax the remaining restrictions based on the number of those hospitalized because of the virus.
Both of the companies manufacturing the vaccines for the virus — Pfizer and Moderna — also announced delays in previous stated delivery numbers, affecting vaccination schedules across the country.
On Friday, the province reported 362 additional cases since Thursday, along with 14 more deaths — now at 1,620 in all. There are now 7,809 active cases in Alberta, and falling steadily. There have been 113,939 recoveries since March. There are also 594 people in the hospital, and 110 of those are in intensive care.
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