One new COVID-19 case in Medicine Hat, seven cases considered active

The total number of COVID-19 cases across the province 27,042. There are 4,921 active cases, up 128 from Wednesday, and 21,803 recovered cases, up 344.

There are currently 130 Albertans in hospital, 18 in ICU. There have been 318 deaths, up five from Wednesday.

The province conducted 12,153 tests in the past 24 hours.

As the province and world continues to grapple with COVID-19, Dr. Deena Hinshaw says a difficult but necessary balance must be struck in responding to it.

“We must follow the evidence and take the steps necessary to keep cases from rising exponentially and overwhelming our health system,” she said. “At the same time, every element of Albertans health is important.”

“We must also limit the harms that our measures can have as much as possible. This means we must be nimble and avoid either/or approaches. The choice is not between implementing another lockdown or letting COVID-19 run unimpeded. Instead, we must make it as easy and safe as possible for Albertans to live with this virus for the foreseeable future.”

The chief medical officer of health explained that means targeted measures when needed but also relaxing other measures where prudent.

Hinshaw said that starting Monday a new symptom list will be implemented for Albertans under the age of 18. That will include the daily checklist used by schools and for all child care settings in the province. Two significant changes will help get those under 18 back into the classroom or child care as quickly and safely as possible, she said.

Runny nose and sore throat are being removed from the list of symptoms that require mandatory isolation for children. Hinshaw made clear the change is only for those who have not had a known exposure.

Alberta Health Services is also shifting to a more targeted checklist that takes into account the total number of symptoms a child may have.

Any child who has even one of the core isolation symptoms – cough, fever, shortness of breath and now loss of taste or smell – must still isolate for 10 days or have a negative test result and resolved symptoms before resuming activities, Hinshaw said.

She added that for all other COVID-19 symptoms they are switching to a more strategic approach.

“Starting on Monday, if a child has only one of any of the other symptoms on the list they should stay home and monitor for 24 hours. If their symptom is improving after 24 hours, testing is not necessary and they can return to normal activities when they feel well enough.

“However, if the child has two or more symptoms on the list, then testing is recommended and they should stay home until the symptoms go away or they test negative for COVID-19,” she said.

Hinshaw said the changes allow testing can be focused on those most at-risk and decrease wait times for all Albertans and the impact of the changes will be monitored closely.

Albertans over the age of 18 will continue to use the daily checklist already online. Evidence is being examined to determine if changes can be made for those over 18.

Hinshaw said that after every holiday during the pandemic there has been a rise in cases one to two weeks later. She said this is not the year for large Halloween parties, among other advice for the weekend.

“I am asking Albertans as clearly and strongly as possible to please be wise and be safe. Follow the guidance we have provided. If you are trick-or-treating, keep it to your household or cohort. And please ensure your children wear a non-medical mask under their costume.”

She asked anyone sick with even mild symptoms to stay home and not give out candy.

Routine maintenance will be done to the province’s COVID-19 reporting site over the weekend and there will be no data update until Tuesday when Hinshaw provides her next update.

With a rate of more than 50 active cases per 100,000 people, Brooks is now on the provincial “Watch” list; Brooks’ rate is 124.4.

Lethbridge and Lethbridge County are also both on the “Watch” list at 156.6 and 103.1, respectively.

The MD of Taber is also now on the “Watch” list with a rate of 53 active cases per 100,000 people.

On Thursday there are 111 schools in the province where outbreaks have been declared. Alberta Health’s threshold for declaring an outbreak in school is two cases being in a school while infectious within 14 days.

No local schools are classified as having outbreaks on the provincial website.

The website Support Our Students is tracking instances of cases in schools across the province. This week, Eastbrook Elementary School in Brooks, Brooks Junior High School, Dr. Roy Wilson Learning Centre, Parkside Junior High School in Redcliff, and Brooks Composite High School and the Brooks Campus of Medicine Hat College have all been added to that list.

Elm Street School and Herald School were added on Oct. 5 and Ecole St. John Paul II has been on it since late August.

There are 2,332 cases in the South Zone. There are 256 active cases and 2,047 recovered. There are currently five COVID-19 cases in hospital in the South Zone, four in the ICU. One new death in Lethbridge brings the zone total to 29.

Cypress County has totaled 38 cases – five active cases and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 49 total cases. There are six active cases and the rest are recovered.

The MD of Taber has 54 total cases — 10 active cases and the rest recovered.

Special Areas No. 2 has 18 total cases – one active case and the rest recovered.

Brooks has 1,165 total cases — 24 active and 1,132 are recovered. Brooks has recorded nine deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 44 cases — eight active cases, 34 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 72 total cases. There are six active cases, 65 are recovered cases and there has been one death in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 489 cases. There are 155 active cases, 330 recovered and there have been four deaths. Lethbridge County has 137 cases, 26 active cases, 110 recovered and there has been one death.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Oct. 28, 2020.”

You can read the full Oct. 29 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan reported 82 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, five in the South Zones.

Saskatchewan has a total of 2,990 cases, 708 considered active. There are 2,258 recovered cases and there have been 25 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

by Chris Brown

One new COVID-19 case in Medicine Hat, seven cases considered active

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