The number of daily active cases of COVID-19 in Edmonton continues to drop, with 1,028 cases reported on Feb. 21, a level we haven't seen since early October.
This is good news, and chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw shared more good news on Monday, noting a sharp decline in long-term care cases, a decrease in acute care outbreaks, and a downward trend in cases in school-aged children.
But she also called for continuing vigilance, noting the steady rise in cases of the more infectious variants, a provincial R-value of 1.03 (0.93 in Edmonton), and the fact that it will take months for vaccination to be widespread.
"Our choices still deeply matter. Our cases are starting to plateau instead of continuing to drop," she said at Monday's news conference. "If given the chance, this virus will spread widely, and we risk losing the gains that we have made together."
As a result, even though hospitalizations are at 324, no decisions will be made before March 1 on whether it's safe to move on to Step 2 of the provincial reopening plan, she said.
This chart was generated from the City of Edmonton's open data portal.