By Troy Gillard

THURSDAY UPDATE

COVID-19 outbreaks at three Alberta schools, Red Deer sheds active case

Sep 10, 2020 | 4:01 PM

Alberta has confirmed 24 cases of COVID-19 present at 21 schools while infectious and the province now has confirmed outbreaks at three schools – two in Calgary and one in Lethbridge.

“I want to stress that while we are calling these outbreaks this is a very cautious use of the term,” said Dr. Deena Hinshaw on Thursday. “We are acting out of an abundance of caution by treating two cases who are in a school while infectious within a 14-day span as an outbreak, even as the cases are within one family.”

Hinshaw said all outbreaks are still under investigation by AHS and there is no evidence of transmission within the school in any of the outbreaks at Calgary’s Henry Wise High School and St. Wildfred Elementary School and Chinook High School in Lethbridge.

Alberta’s chief medical officer of health added they are striving to help parents have the information they need to best understand the risk of exposure their children face.

Any time one confirmed case is identified as being infectious while in the school and any time an outbreak is declared at a school, all parents and guardians will receive a letter from AHS through the school to ensure those most affected have the information needed are informed of the outbreaks, what is being done and the next steps.

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The province says it is committed to updating its online map identifying schools with two or more cases of COVID-19 each weekday with information validated as of that morning.

Hinshaw later said everyone – in school and out – has a part to play.

“All of us, whether students, parents, teachers, staff or anyone in our communities, that each of us needs to take the responsibility for making sure that we are not in a position where we could either acquire COVID-19 or pass it along should we get it,” she said. “And so schools can do a certain amount and then the rest of us need to pick up that responsibility.”

She encouraged parents to have those conversations about making decisions and being leaders in stopping the COVID spread.

Hinshaw also reported the results of the retrospective testing done based on samples, originally taken for other respiratory viruses collected between Dec. 1 and March 7, two days after the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the province.

“From these more than 23,000 samples, I’m pleased to report that we detected only one case of COVID-19,” she said. It came from a sample collected on Feb. 24, nine days before the first detected case. The individual had travelled from the U.S.

For comparison, Hinshaw said, a retrospective study in China found a case from November 2019 and France’s first detected case was found to be from December.

Hinshaw also announced Thursday that indoor hot tubs, saunas in Alberta are now open after the province saw no COVID-19 cases linked to outdoor whirlpools or hot tubs, which have been open for a few months.

Overall, Alberta is reporting an additional 113 cases of COVID-19 on Thursday to bring the total to 15,304.

The province completed 9,711 tests for the virus over the past 24 hours.

Alberta has 1,494 active cases as of Thursday’s report, a decrease of 91.

There are currently 43 Albertans in hospital because of the virus, including seven who are intensive care.

Five new deaths are being attributed to the virus, bringing Alberta’s total to 253.

In the Central Zone, the number of active cases sits at 45, a decrease of three, while recoveries are up to 577, an increase of four.

Red Deer has recorded an additional recovery from COVID-19 for a total of 78, while the number of active cases in the city now sits at 17, a corresponding decrease of one.

Sylvan Lake remains with six active cases, Lacombe County has eight and the city of Lacombe has one. The interactive map showing the locations of all COVID-19 cases in Alberta can be found here.

(With file from Chris Brown – CHAT News Today)