By Chris Brown

26 new cases, 6,300 tests completed

Province to expand COVID-19 testing to community pharmacies

Jun 25, 2020 | 3:54 PM

Alberta confirmed 26 new cases of COVID-19 among more than 6,300 tests completed since Wednesday, and testing will soon be coming to community pharmacies.

“In the coming days, a number of community pharmacies with the skills and capacity will offer testing to Albertans without symptoms and no known exposure to COVID-19,” said Health Minister Tyler Shandro.

The program will begin at pharmacies mostly in Calgary and Edmonton before being rolled out to other communities in the coming weeks, he said.

“This will help us to ensure here in Alberta that testing materials, data and supports are working well before expanding this initiative further,” he said.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw said 7,191 Albertans have recovered from COVID-19. There are now 7,851 total cases in the province, 506 of which are active.

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Hinshaw said there are 38 Albertans currently in hospital, eight of which are in the ICU. She also announced one additional death, bringing the total to 154.

There are no new cases in Medicine Hat or Brooks on the updated geospatial map that shows figures to the “end of day June 24″

Medicine Hat shows a total of 38 cases — two active cases and 36 recovered.

Brooks is showing 1,119 total cases — three active and 1,107 recovered. Nine deaths have been recorded there.

In the South Zone, there are 1,291 total cases, 23 active and 1,268 recovered. There have been 10 deaths in the one and there one person in hospital in the zone.

The chief medical officer of health presented stark figures about the cases confirmed in the past couple of weeks, saying the majority are in people under 40 years of age.

“The average age of COVID-19 infections is 39,” she said. “No one is immune to COVID-19.”

She reminded Albertans about the importance of anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 being tested and said people must get past any fears of being stigmatized for being tested.

“We will only be successful in keeping COVID-19 spread manageable if we are able to use evidence-based interventions such as contact tracing and self-isolation of close contacts,” she said.

She also reminded people that COVID-19 is still very much a threat to Albertans young and old, and that people should keep that in mind as Canada Day approaches and people make plans.

“We have seen that a single barbecue can spark a wide number of cases. We’ve seen that a single individual who may not even know they have the virus can infect a large number of their friends, co-workers and neighbours,” she said. “COVID-19 loves a party, so we can’t let our guard down.”

Hinshaw will provide her next in-person update on Tuesday. Numbers will be updated online in the days between.

On May 11, the province began putting a more detailed chart online for each zone.

Cypress County is showing zero active cases and 21 recovered, while the County of Newell is showing zero active cases and 20 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 no cases on the map. There was previously one recovered case and one death attributed to the region.

The City of Lethbridge has 38 cases, five listed as active and 33 recovered. Lethbridge County has three cases currently, two considered active and one recovered.

Read the full June 25 update from the province here.