New COVID-19 cases drop again, recoveries near 3,000

Medicine Hat has 33 total cases now, 12 active and 21 recovered.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw confirmed 469 cases connected to the JBS meat plant in Brooks.

The chief medical officer of health said those numbers “underline that this is not an outbreak limited to a worksite, but a complex outbreak that needs intervention across all settings.”

Hinshaw said she has heard stories of discrimination against newcomer families, with assumptions being made that any workers at JBS and the Cargill meat plant in High River and their families are a risk to others.

“People who are cases or close contacts will be supported by public health to self-isolate, but this is not required of all employees or families,” she said. “When people are stigmatized or targeted it blocks our collective ability to control the spread, as people may fear getting tested or talking to public health.”

“We should be supporting people who are in this situation, not stigmatizing them.”

She said employees at the plants should not be blamed or shamed for the spread of the virus.

“We are all in this together and our success in controlling spread will be based on how effectively we can help each other to take the measures that are required.”

Hinshaw cautioned people against feeling that the storm has passed just because Alberta is preparing to relaunch the economy.

“The storm is still here, the storm will be here for a long while to come and we can not wait until we have no COVID at all until we start to reopen certain aspects of our economic and social lives.”

She added we need to continue to be cautious together.

“These businesses can not open in the way that they used to operate, everyone has to put measures in place,” she said.

Hinshaw also announced the province is expanding its list of symptoms that qualify a person for testing. Fever, chills, a new or worsening of a chronic cough or shortness of breath, sore throat or painful swallowing, stuffy or runny nose, headaches, muscle or joint aches, feeling unwell in general or new fatigue or severe exhaustion, gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or unexplained loss of appetite, loss of sense of smell or taste, or conjunctivitis (pink eye) are all now on the list.

Hinshaw said the additions are based on new and emerging knowledge of the virus.

“Adding these new symptoms will allow us to be more confident that we can identify as early as possible to small percentage of cases that may present with more unusual symptoms,” she said.

Testing has also been expanded so that all close contacts of confirmed cases are eligible and all new admissions to any continuing care facility in the province.

Hinshaw also said cases don’t require a doctor’s note to return to work and revealed an outbreak at the Purolator distribution centre, where 30 people have been infected.

Prior to Hinshaw speaking, Health Minister Tyler Shandro announced the province will lift some of the restrictions on non-urgent scheduled day surgeries in regions where hospital and clinic capacity and the rate of new COVID-19 infections does not present a significant risk.

“Many Albertans have had to delay important non-urgent scheduled procedures in order for us to ensure our health-care system was prepared for an influx of patients with COVID-19,” said Shandro. “Thanks to the measures our government and AHS have taken, and the hard work and dedication of front-line health-care workers, our health-care system now has the capacity to begin resuming some of these procedures. Together, we will move forward, get patients the care they need, surround vulnerable Albertans with a ring of defence and build back our province one step at a time.”

The first priority will be to treat patients who would be at the highest risk if their surgery was further delayed and those who have been waiting longest. AHS has created a centralized booking system, and will contact patients on wait-lists to reschedule procedures. As procedures ramp up, the province will continue to evaluate and determine additional procedures that can resume, such as short-term overnight stays.

There are now 104 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

There are 89 people in hospital, 21 of which are in ICU.

The County of Newell has 11 cases, 10 active and one recovered.

In Cypress County, they are reporting eight cases of COVID-19, one active and seven recovered.

The County of Forty Mile and Municipal District of Taber each have two confirmed cases both listed as recovered.

Special Areas No. 2 has two confirmed cases, one active and one death.

The City of Lethbridge has 17 active cases, five listed as active and 12 recovered. Lethbridge County has one recorded recovered case.

Read the full May 4 update from the province here.

by Chris Brown

New COVID-19 cases drop again, recoveries near 3,000

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