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By Troy Gillard

732 new cases reported, 11 deaths

Hinshaw asks Albertans to ‘do their part’ to tackle COVID-19 spread

Nov 18, 2020 | 4:11 PM

Dr. Deena Hinshaw has laid out how Alberta’s health system is handling the rise in COVID-19 cases and preparing for it to continue.

But the province’s chief medical officer of health said there are consequences to these measures in delayed access to non-COVID care and there is a ceiling to capacity expansions.

“We need Albertans to do their part. By working together to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the community, we can reduce the need for hospitalization and demands on our hospitals and emergency departments,” Hinshaw said during her latest update.

Across the province, there are 730 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday out of just over 13,000 tests, according to Dr. Hinshaw, for a positivity rate of about 5.5 per cent.

Alberta has 10,057 active cases, which is 11 fewer than the 10,068 reported on Wednesday.

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There have been 31,192 recovered cases in the province, up 730 from Tuesday.

There are 287 Albertans currently in hospital because of COVID-19, an increase of 19, including 57 in intensive care, same as Tuesday.

Red Deer saw its active case count rise slightly on Wednesday to 109, which is four more than Tuesday.

Red Deer has had 233 recovered cases, an increase of four, as the total number of cases attributed to the city rose to 342, up eight from Tuesday.

Elsewhere locally, Red Deer County has 13 active cases, while Sylvan Lake added one for a total of nine.

Lacombe has 17 active cases (down two) and Lacombe County has 12 (up one).

Rocky Mountain House remains with six active cases. Mountain View County held steady with 13, while Olds added three more for a total of four.

Kneehill County is down by one to six active cases, while Starland County and the County of Stettler remain with one each.

Ponoka County shed one active case and now sits with 93.

Red Deer, Lacombe, Lacombe County, Ponoka County, Mountain View County remain under ‘enhanced’ status by the province, meaning additional measures are in place to help limit spread of the virus.

There are currently four COVID-19 outbreaks listed for the Central zone, including:

– Avenue Living Communities office, Red Deer

– Drumheller Institution

– Private gathering, Ponoka

– Pure Fitness, Red Deer

Dr. Hinshaw expressed disappointment at reports of businesses and organizations trying to find loopholes in the measures put in place last week. She said she’s heard of team sport practices continuing by moving to a neighbouring community’s rink and group fitness classes being run by video instead of an instructor on-site.

She said these decisions put everyone at risk.

“The intent of these measures is to facilitate a two-week hard stop of all activity that can provide opportunity for large-scale COVID spread,” she said.

To those who have decided they will not comply because they believe the measures will last longer than two weeks, Hinshaw said we cannot create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“Any individual, group or business that chooses to continue is putting at risk the time-limited nature of these restrictions,” she said. “These actions risk not just further restrictions on their own businesses and activities, but further restrictions for all those who are choosing to comply and going above and beyond as well. This is deadly serious. I have asked for kindness but I also ask for firmness. We need to control our spread and protect our health system.”

Hinshaw says she continues to be concerned by the numbers, and the human costs of COVID are rising rapidly.

“We have lost Albertans to other causes in this time as well, and they are also mourned and missed,” she said. “But the difference is we did not have the collective power to prevent all those other deaths. With COIVD-19 we do have that power.”

She said almost 25 per cent of Alberta’s COVID-19 deaths have happened since Nov. 1.

“If we do not change our trajectory the implications are grim,” Hinshaw said.

She also said the daily COVID-19 death count is a tragic reminder that COVID is not just a flu, but a matter of life and death.

She said overall as of Nov. 15 about 40 per cent of cases are linked to a household or social gathering or private event. Ten per cent are linked to continuing care, four per cent to child care or K-12 schools and three per cent to acute care outbreaks.

“But for 30 per cent, the source remains unknown,” Hinshaw said, adding that number is rising as the province faces challenges in timely contact tracing.

On vaccines, Hinshaw said that if all checks and balances with regard to trials and safety are cleared, the province would be in line for about 680,000 doses combined between the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

AHS has initiated surge capacity measures in Edmonton Zone and will do so in other areas as needed. Other measures being taken by AHS are to create hospital spaces for patients with COVID by reducing the spaces for those requiring non-COVID care.

As well, Hinshaw said hospital sites are increasing space by opening units not currently in operation and equipping and maximizing other spaces in a safe manner. She said that includes temporary ICU spaces in spaces that would otherwise be used to care for patients with other conditions requiring specialized care.

(With file from Chris Brown – CHAT News Today)