Above is the April 2 press conference with Chief Medical Officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw
by Morinville News Staff
COVID-19 cases in Alberta rose 96 in the past 24 hours bringing the provincial total since testing began to 968. There are now 174 Albertans recovered, an increase of 32 since Wednesday.
The majority of cases in the province (61%) are in the Calgary Zone, and 108 of the province’s total cases are believed to be community transmissions.
An additional 3955 Albertans were tested over the past day, bringing the total tested to date to 57096. Dr. Hinshaw said 98 per cent of those tested, tested negative. This infection rate is consistent with what they have been seeing.
Currently, there are 32 people in hospitals, with 14 admitted to intensive care units (ICU). There have been, since the outbreak began, 67 hospitalizations, with 21 admissions to ICUs.
Hinshaw said there were two additional deaths in the past 24 hours. The recent deaths were a man in his 90s at the McKenzie Towne Continuing Care Centre in Calgary and a man in his 80s in the North Zone. To date, there have been 13 deaths in Alberta.
Alberta Health is tracking nine outbreaks at continuing care facilities. Some of these outbreaks are reported as a precaution because staff worked at McKenzie Towne Long Term Care, as well as other long-term care sites. Hinshaw said there are 74 confirmed cases in continuing care facilities. There were 30 new cases at McKenzie Towne Long Term Care in Calgary bringing the total to 65 cases. Manoir Du Lac Retirement Home in the North zone has two reported cases. There was no change Thursday to other facilities. There is one case at Care West, one at Father Lacombe in Calgary, and four at Shepherd’s Care Kensington in Edmonton.
New outbreak standards for health settings
Alberta’s chief medical officer of health has outlined new orders on how to control outbreaks of COVID-19 in licensed supportive living (including group homes and lodges), long-term care (nursing homes and auxiliary hospitals), and residential addiction treatment service providers licensed under the Mental Health Services Protection Act.
Under the new orders, staff and operators will be required to notify public health authorities as soon as a case is confirmed or if two or more residents exhibit COVID-19 symptoms.
Staff who work at multiple facilities are required to immediately inform their supervisors if they have worked or are working at a facility where there is a confirmed or suspected case.
Operators and managers must also inform all families with residents in the facilities.
The new standards provide operators with direction on how to deploy staff and resources where most needed, implement isolation measures, and ensure staff have up-to-date training on care and protective equipment.
Local Numbers
Alberta Health’s geographical data for April 2 shows there are currently six cases of COVID-19 in Sturgeon County West, which includes Bon Accord and Morinville, as well as surrounding rural areas. That is the same number as Wednesday’s update. There are no cases of COVID-19 identified in Sturgeon County East. Those numbers remain unchanged from the previous day.
Up-to-the-minute information on COVID-19 in Alberta is available at https://www.alberta.ca/coronavirus-info-for-albertans.aspx?.
Local information on Morinville’s handling of the pandemic is online at http://morinville.ca/covid19.
