Medicine Hat back to three active COVID-19 cases

Any drops in total case counts, such as in Medicine Hat, are related to this database reconciliation.

“I apologize to Albertans for this error and any confusion or anxiety it may have caused,” said the province’s chief medical officer of health.

Hinshaw said more cases are likely to be confirmed related to the “It Is Time Canada” religious gathering that took place in Deadwood, Alta. over the August long weekend.

“This is a good reminder that identified cases often are the outcome of activities that happened several weeks before. The gathering resulted in 15 lab-confirmed cases in Alberta and 17 in British Columbia so far,” said Hinshaw, adding an estimated 200-300 people attended the gathering.

Health authorities in both provinces are undertaking rigorous contact tracing, said Hinshaw.

She added that there are 15 confirmed cases linked to in-person services linked to the Bible Pentecostal Church in Edmonton, despite precautions that were taken.

She said both instances are reminders of the dangers presented by large gatherings and asked people not to stigmatize those involved as it may result in a reluctance to be tested.

“All of us have to follow all measures tenaciously, even if we are tired of washing our hands, wearing a mask and not being able to hug the people we care about,” Hinshaw said.

As the return to school approaches, Hinshaw said Shoppers Drug Mart and its parent Loblaws is taking on a bigger role in offering testing to teachers and school staff. Within the next two weeks, testing will be offered at all 234 Alberta pharmacies within the Loblaw company.

She urged all teachers and school staff to book tests soon and all others without symptoms to delay their own testing until later in September.

A full list of pharmacies offering testing can be found at the Alberta Blue Cross website.

Hinshaw offered positive news on the outbreak at the Misericordia Hospital in Edmonton, saying it was declared over on the weekend.

The next in-person update from Dr. Deena Hinshaw will be on Thursday.

There are 48 Albertans currently in hospital due to COVID-19, 11 of which are in ICU. There have been a total of 225 deaths, an increase of one from Monday.

The province conducted 8,027 tests in the past 24 hours.

The South Zone has a total of 1,717 cases —1,655 recovered, and 39 active.

There are three people in the zone in hospital, one of which is in ICU, and there have been 23 deaths.

Cypress County has totalled 31 cases – all recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 20 total cases, four active cases and 16 recovered.

The MD of Taber has 39 total cases — two active, 36 recovered and one death.

Special Areas No. 2 has 15 total cases, all of which are recovered.

Brooks has 1,127 total cases —1,114 are recovered and four active. Brooks has recorded nine deaths. The County of Newell has a total of 30 cases — four active, 25 recovered and one death.

The County of Warner has 56 total cases. There are now 53 recovered cases, two active cases and one death in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 143 cases. Of those, seven are listed as active and 134 recovered and there have been two deaths there. Lethbridge County has 30 cases, three active cases and 27 recovered.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Aug. 17, 2020.”

Read the full Aug. 18 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan reported one new case of COVID-19 on Tuesday, which was in the Saskatoon Zone.

Saskatchewan has a total of 1,582 cases, 157 considered active. There are 1,402 recovered cases and there have been 22 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

Note: This story has been updated to correct the total number of Alberta cases reported.

by Chris Brown

Medicine Hat back to three active COVID-19 cases

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