Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said on Twitter on Feb.

none of the more than 2,500 schools in Alberta was shifted to temporary at-home learning to address operational challenges brought on by the virus.

"As recently as January 28, that number was 29 schools, so the numbers have been steadily trending downward," said Katherine Stavropoulos, who is LaGrange's press secretary.

The University of Calgary announced on Jan. 14 that it was extending online classes until Feb. 19, with a return to in-person classes after Reading Week, beginning on Feb. 28.

The University of Alberta is also delaying its return to in-person activities until Feb. 28.

Wastewater monitoring:

Wastewater numbers in Calgary show a declining number of new COVID-19 infections. Data for Edmonton also shows a decline. The data from a dashboard created by the University of Calgary Centre for Informatics show the average amount of COVID-19 detected in wastewater has trended downward since a peak on Jan. 11 in Calgary.

As the Alberta government scales back on widespread PCR testing to focus on those in high-priority settings, the province is now relying on wastewater surveillance more than ever before to track the prevalence of COVID-19 in Alberta.

The province's wastewater — and the amount of infection in it — has been monitored for two years by a group of 23 researchers in a joint project with the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta.

The data is updated publicly three times per week.

It depicts the amount of SARS-CoV-2 RNA — the virus that causes COVID-19 — that's in the province's wastewater.

The virus is shed in peoples' feces before symptoms arise, so values in the data associate strongest with cases occurring six days after the samples are collected.

Isolation times:

As of Jan. 3, people with at least two doses of vaccine who test positive for COVID-19 need to isolate for only five days instead of 10.

If symptoms continue past five days, fully vaccinated people must continue to isolate until feeling better.

If they're symptom free after five days, they must wear a mask around others at all times when they're outside their home.

The change does not apply to people who aren't fully vaccinated, who must continue to isolate for 10 days or until their symptoms end, whichever is longer.

Copping said the change followed evidence that suggests fully immunized people have shorter infectious periods.

This change also follows the approach taken by Ontario and some other provinces, as well as the latest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control in the United States, Copping said.

Exceptions will be provided for workplaces where disruption of service for 24 hours or more would be harmful to the public, and where there is no other way to continue the service except by bringing workers back before their isolation period has ended, Copping said.

In these circumstances, additional public health measures will be required. For example, Copping said returning workers would not be allowed to remove their masks when in the same room as anyone else at any time.

Hinshaw announced on Feb. 3 that the province has shortened the recommended quarantine period for unvaccinated, asymptomatic household contacts of confirmed cases. The quarantine time decreased to 10 days from 14.

Vaccinations:

Copping announced Alberta Health Services will offer vaccines for children between five and 11 on a walk-in basis in early March. The health provider said in a news release that it will assess the demand for walk-in appointments for kids on March 16 to determine if it needs to expand its services.

According to Alberta Health, 75.8 per cent of the province's total population — or 86.5 per cent of those older than 12 — have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Alberta is second last of all provinces and territories in terms of the percentage of eligible people (ages five and up) who have received the COVID-19 vaccine, according to CBC's vaccine tracker.

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