Seventeen more St. Albertans have recovered from COVID-19, while another eight tested positive for the virus Thursday.
St. Albert's total active cases dropped down to 135 on Thursday, compared to 144 on Wednesday.
The rate of residents who have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine continue to climb. The city now has 58.5 per cent of its population immunized with at least one dose, an increase from 57.5 on Wednesday. Another 652 residents were vaccinated overnight, meaning 41,021 St. Albertans have received at least one dose.
In Morinville, active cases dropped from 37 to 33 overnight, while Sturgeon County saw its active cases decrease from 73 to 71.
Sturgeon County West, the area that includes Morinville, has 43.2 per cent of its population immunized against COVID-19, or 13,108 people.
Across Alberta, another 812 cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed overnight, bringing the total to 17,675 active cases. The province's positivity rate sat at 9.3 per cent with 9,038 tests run overnight.
There are currently 665 Albertans in the hospital with COVID-19 and 177 of them are in intensive care. Another four deaths were reported to Alberta Health in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 2,162.
Alberta Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw asked Albertans to continue to follow the public health rules over the May long weekend so the COVID-19 numbers will continue their downward trend.
Hinshaw said it is important for Albertans to stay close to home this long weekend and only camp with members of their own household. Campers should do all of their advance preparation at home, rather than make contact with others in different communities.
"If we all stay vigilant and do our part just one more time, this might be the last long weekend (where) such sacrifices are necessary," Hinshaw said.
"When we get to the July long weekend, hopefully we will not be needing to have this kind of significant restriction on Albertans, and we can all enjoy the kinds of activities that we have been missing over the past year."
The top doctor said the province is gaining momentum but it is fragile, and Albertans can’t afford to take a weekend off from the rules.
"That's why I'm asking every Albertan to have fun and stay safe this weekend. Please follow the rules, avoid in-person interactions with people outside your household, especially indoors, and avoid non-essential travel wherever possible."
Quarantine rules change
Up until now, anyone who has been a close contact of someone with COVID-19 will have to quarantine for 14 days, but effective immediately, those with a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine will have their quarantine period shortened.
Those with a first dose will only need to quarantine for 10 days after exposure to someone with COVID-19, as long as the single-dose close contact has no symptoms.
The close contact will still have to get a test, but if they test negative on day seven of the quarantine or later, they will be able to leave quarantine. If they test positive or have symptoms then the current isolation rules apply
For those who have had two vaccine doses and have had two weeks pass since their last dose, they will no longer need to quarantine after exposure if they do not have symptoms. However, if they have even minor symptoms, then they will need to isolate and go for a COVID-19 test. If they test negative, they will not need to continue to quarantine, but if they are positive, they will need to isolate for 10 days.
“Regardless of whether someone has had one, two or no doses, all of the other restrictions in place still apply,” Hinshaw said.
Any returning travellers will still need to quarantine for two weeks, regardless of their vaccine status.
“While vaccines don’t erase all possibility of infection, the data shows the vaccine reduces the amount of virus in the person’s body, even if someone does get infected, which further reduces the risk of transmission. This is good news,” Hinshaw said.
As of May 19, 2,312,821 vaccine doses have been give out and 44.2 per cent of Albertans have had at least one dose.
