Hinshaw calls provincial COVID-19 cases troubling, Medicine Hat at 15 active cases

After the regular weekend break from updates – and one more day due to maintenance on the reporting site – the province announced four days worth of cases today.

The province recorded a total of 2,268 cases since the last update on Friday – 581 cases on Oct. 30, 525 cases on Oct. 31, 592 cases on Nov. 1 and 570 cases on Nov. 2.

That’s an average of 567 new cases per day.

“This is a large and troubling number, one that drives home the challenge that we are facing,” said chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

The total number of COVID-19 cases across the province 29,932. There are 6,110 active cases, up 938 from Friday, and 23,484 recovered cases, up 1,315.

There are currently 167 Albertans in hospital, 27 in ICU. There have been 338 deaths, up 15 from Friday.

The province conducted 46,036 tests since the last update of numbers – 13,151 on Oct. 30, 13,180 on Oct. 31, 11,287 on Nov. 1 and 8,418 on Nov. 2.

Hinshaw said the lab positivity rate in the province has risen to 6.8 per cent and in Edmonton it is almost nine per cent. The growth rate in Calgary remains high with an r-value of 1.2 over the past five days. There are more than 2,500 active cases in each city.

“This is not good news. This is a problem,” she said. She also called the sharp increase of hospitalizations a concern.

One promising development is that Edmonton has reached and r-value of 1 over the past five days. She said that shows voluntary measures introduced last month have had an effect, but it’s only a start.

R-value is a reproduction number that shows how many people are being infected by each infected person.

“I have said before the cases we are seeing in schools as well as in our hospitals and continuing care facilities are largely a reflection of the transmission that is going on in our communities,” Hinshaw said. “As the case numbers reported over the last few weeks show, we are facing a concerning situation and we need to reduce the rate of transmission if we want to avoid more difficult choices in the future.”

She stressed the differences between COVID and influenza, among them that there is no vaccine for COVID-19, and that COVID is more deadly than influenza, especially seasonal influenza.

She added the peak number of deaths from flu in any one flu season is 92.

“We cannot treat this virus as something that our health system can easily absorb, or something that will simply depart when spring arrives,” Hinshaw said, again stressing the importance of getting a flu shot.

She also stressed the importance of families isolating even within their own household, enhanced cleaning and wearing a mask inside.

A large portion of the transmission being seen is within households, she said.

She asked Albertans to engage in respectful debate.

“COVID-19 is new and there is no one right way to navigate this pandemic. What we do know, however, is that when COVID-19 starts to escalate it can do so quickly and dramatically,” she said.

She said it’s critical for all Albertans to follow all recommended health measures, regardless of where they live.

She said she understands pandemic fatigue but “we must not give up.”

“Hope is not lost. We still have the power to collectively reverse the trend,” Hinshaw said.

“This month, I’m asking all of us to do everything we can to protect our family, our friends and our community.”

Brooks and the County of Newell are on the provincial “Watch” list with rates of more than 50 active cases per 100,000 people. Brooks’ rate is 259.1 and there are 50 active cases. The surrounding county has a rate of 173 and 14 active cases.

Outbreaks have been declared in the past few days at Brooks Junior High School, and Bassano School and Rosemary School in the county.

There are also cases connected to Eastbrook Elementary School and Brooks Composite High School and Duchess School, as well as the Brooks Campus of Medicine Hat College.

Brooks was a hotspot for the virus in the spring with more than 1,000 active cases at the time.

The County of Forty Mile is also on the “Watch” list with a rate of 201.8 and 13 active cases.

Elsewhere in Alberta, Lethbridge and Lethbridge County are also both on the “Watch” list at 154.6 and 142.7, respectively and 153 and 36 active cases.

On Tuesday there are 117 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.

The website Support Our Students is tracking instances of cases in schools across the province. Local schools Crescent Heights High School, Crestwood School, Dr. Roy Wilson Learning Centre and Parkside Junior High School in Redcliff have been added recently.

There are 2,508 cases in the South Zone. There are 317 active cases and 2,161 recovered. There are currently seven COVID-19 cases in hospital in the South Zone, four in the ICU. The death total in the zone is now at 30, with one new death in Lethbridge.

Cypress County has totaled 45 cases – nine active cases and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 56 total cases. There are 13 active cases and the rest are recovered.

The MD of Taber has 58 total cases — nine active cases and the rest recovered.

Special Areas No. 2 has 17 total cases – all recovered.

Brooks has 1,198 total cases — 50 active and 1,139 are recovered. Brooks has recorded nine deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 54 cases — 14 active cases, 38 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 73 total cases. There are six active cases, 66 are recovered cases and there has been one death in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 569 cases. There are 153 active cases, 411 recovered and there have been five deaths. Lethbridge County has 158 cases, 36 active cases, 121 recovered and there has been one death.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Nov. 2, 2020.”

Read the full Nov. 2 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan reported 81 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, none in the South Zones.

Saskatchewan has a total of 3,373 cases, 842 considered active. There are 2,506 recovered cases and there have been 25 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

by Chris Brown

Hinshaw calls provincial COVID-19 cases troubling, Medicine Hat at 15 active cases

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