COVID numbers trend downward
A downward trend is a good thing when it comes to the number of active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta and that's what we've got.
As the number of positive cases recover and there are less new people testing positive, Alberta Health's graph shows the number of active cases is plunging.
Of about 6,700 positive cases in the whole of Alberta as of Sunday there are now a little more than 1,064 cases still active, according to Alberta Health's data.
The number of people in hospital with COVID19 across the province was 57 on Sunday. Just two weeks ago, May 3, that number was 90. Alberta Health says 4.2 per cent of active cases require hospitalization and 0.8 per cent admission to ICU.
The number of people requiring admission to ICU in the province is also declining. At the end of April and early May there were 22 for several days running. It is now hovering around eight or nine.
In the south zone, which includes Lethbridge and Brooks, the number of people who have recovered was just 26 on April 23 and on May 17 that number had climbed to 1,091.
There are still new cases being diagnosed. In the south zone, Cardston County had five active cases on May 14 but that had increased to 14 by May 17.
Brooks has had a total of 1,089 confirmed cases by May 17, and only 19 of those had been confirmed in the previous three days. The number of people who have recovered though is growing faster. By May
14, 972 had recovered and by May 17 that number was 1,002. Brooks has only 80 active cases, according to data released by Alberta Health on Sunday.
In Medicine Hat the number of cases has remained the same for several days at 35 cases and of those only five are still active.