Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health

By Troy Gillard

one active case in Red Deer

Alberta surpasses 3,000 COVID-19 cases, Central numbers hold steady

Apr 21, 2020 | 3:55 PM

Alberta officials are confirming 187 new COVID-19-related cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to 3,095.

The number of cases in the Central zone remains unchanged at 77.

There are now 1,273 recovered cases in the province, which is 43 more than Monday and represents 41 per cent of all cases in Alberta.

Red Deer now has just one active case of COVID-19 to go with 31 recoveries.

The province confirmed two additional deaths Tuesday, bringing that total to 61. One of the deaths occurred at the J.B. Wood continuing care facility in High Prairie.

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Alberta has tested 109,015 people for COVID-19.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw says 401 people at the Cargill meatpacking plant in High River have tested positive for the virus. As for JBS in Brooks, 77 cases of the virus have been confirmed while 20 employees at the Kearl Lake oil sands project near Fort McMurray have contracted the virus.

Continuing care centres are still being impacted greatly by COVID-19. 367 cases at the facilities have been confirmed, including outbreaks at 29 different centres.

Beginning Tuesday the names and locations of active outbreaks at continuing care, long-term care and acute care sites. Any site that has seen two or more cases Hinshaw said is usually an indicator that transmission has occurred in that facility. An outbreak is declared over when four weeks have passed with more new cases. Hinshaw said the program will be expanded to other settings in the weeks to come.

Hinshaw cautioned that masks do not fully protect anyone from the potential spread of COVID-19, noting it spreads via droplets that can come from sneezing, coughing, talking laughing and even singing.

“My advice is to stay at least two metres away from others, and this is because the spread by droplets,” she said.

It’s also important for masks to be worn properly – covering the nose and the mouth – and should be promptly disposed of after use.

Cleaning and disinfecting regularly touched surfaces and frequent handwashing are other protective measures outlined by Hinshaw.

Hinshaw touched on desires of Albertans to get back to normal. She said Albertans have collectively pulled together to reduce the spread of the virus, and succeeded to a large measure.

“The temptation we need to resist is to think that because we haven’t yet seen the spread that our model predicted, that means the virus has gone away. That is not true,” she said. “The virus is still with us and we need to continue to take it very seriously, even as we start to think about re-opening.

“We will need to keep following core elements of the public health for many months to come,” Hinshaw said, adding that even as businesses open up in the coming months a balance will need to be found between minimizing virus spread and ensuring society can function and remain safe.

She said Albertans should begin to move away from the modelling numbers, and focus on what’s being seen in actuality.

“It’s under our control to change what the real situation is,” she said.

(With file from Chris Brown and David Opinko)