Seven new COVID-19 cases in the province; two active cases remain in Medicine Hat and Brooks

The total in Medicine Hat are 42 cases, two active and 40 recovered. In Brooks, there have been 1,094 total cases. Two are active, 1084 recovered and there have been eight deaths. A second case this week has been reclassified out of the Brooks numbers on Friday.

The South Zone remains at 1,243 cases.

Alberta now has 7,098 total cases. There have been 6,624 recoveries and 328 remain active. There were no new deaths reported, leaving that total at 146.

There are 44 Albertans currently in hospital, six of whom are in ICU.

In her update, Hinshaw also said that Alberta Health Services will release updated visitation guidelines for visitation of patients in acute out-patient and in-patient settings.

“These revised guidelines expand the allowance of some visitation while maintaining specific criteria intended to protect patients, residents, volunteers and staff,” she said, adding the updated guidelines will be on the AHS webpage.

Hinshaw was clear these revised guidelines are only for hospital settings and the existing standards and rules for continuing care remain in effect. She adds she’ll be seeking input from residents, families and operators on the safety in continuing care settings to see if adjustments can be made.

The doctor said that officials are monitoring mass protests and other expanded activities around the province for any potential spikes in numbers.

She added a risk from any activity is assessed based on the distance attendees can keep from each other, the wearing of masks and people not attending if sick.

“But finally it really does depend on how much virus is circulating in the community,” she said. “As I mentioned earlier we have seen a reduction in our case counts .. but it’s always a concern when you have many, many people gathered.”

Hinshaw said the basic prevention measures — proper hand hygiene, staying home when ill, staying two metres apart when out and wearing a mask if that’s not possible — must be continued as the province moves into Stage 2 of its relaunch.

She said strategic and widespread testing will be important as the relaunch progresses and is one of two main objectives. Ensuring Albertans are protecting each other is the other.

“Our success in protecting Albertans who are at the highest risk of severe outcomes rests on our collective action to keep our numbers low in our communities,” Hinshaw said.

She said discussions are taking place regarding the date that Stage 2 of the relaunch will begin and a decision is to be made next week. Stage 2 is currently set to begin on June 19.

Earlier Friday the province announced that a biorepository is being built to preserve COVID-19 samples long-term to support world-class medical research in combatting the virus, and that 200 high-tech ventilators have been donated to Alberta Health Services by businesses.

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

The County of Newell has 15 cases, one active and 14 recovered.

Cypress County has 18 cases, five active and 13 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 recovered and one death.

The City of Lethbridge has 29 cases, two listed as active and 27 recovered. Lethbridge County has one recorded recovered case.

Read the full June 5 update from the province here.

by Chris Brown

Seven new COVID-19 cases in the province; two active cases remain in Medicine Hat and Brooks

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