Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, delivers her daily COVID-19 update for April 13. (Gov't. of Alberta live stream)

By Troy Gillard

two new cases in central zone

Alberta expands testing eligibility for COVID-19

Apr 13, 2020 | 4:13 PM

Alberta is expanding the eligibility for getting a COVID-19 test to “anyone in Alberta who has a fever, cough, shortness of breath, runny nose, or sore throat.”

“With this change going forward, we will see a further increase in the number of cases confirmed every day as a result of this testing,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer, said during her daily briefing Monday afternoon. “We have already seen this increase over the past few days with the expansion we’ve already done.”

The first step, Hinshaw says, is to stay home if you are sick. The next is to take the AHS self-assessment.

Testing and putting measures in place for confirmed cases and contacts also prevents the spread of the virus, said Hinshaw.

“We have seen from other jurisdictions that have successfully flattened the curve that aggressive testing is essential to controlling the spread,” says Hinshaw, praising the provincial lab for increasing its capacity for testing to meet the demand.

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She said 2,465 tests have been done in the past 24 hours, and 77,007 total and that the quantity of tests is important but they must also be purposeful in the testing.

Alberta reported 81 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total to 1,732.

Hinshaw also reported 877 recoveries in Alberta, an increase of 54 from Sunday. She says 254 of Alberta’s COVID-19 cases may be community transmission.

There have been two more deaths in Alberta from COVID-19, bringing the total to 44.

Both of the latest fatalities were in the Calgary zone – a woman in her seventies who was a resident at a long-term care facility, and a man in his eighties who was not a resident of a care facility.

There are two new cases of COVID-19 in the Central zone, bringing the total to 74. It’s the first reported increase in the number of cases in the zone since April 7:

Red Deer – 32 (12 active, 20 recovered)
Red Deer County – 12 cases (6 active, 6 recovered)
County of Stettler – 3 cases (2 active)
Lacombe – 2 cases (both recovered)
Lacombe County – 4 cases (all recovered)
Clearwater County – 1 case (recovered)
Ponoka County – 1 case (recovered)

With file from David Opinko and Chris Brown)