Red Deer with 118 active COVID-19 cases as Alberta sets another daily record

Currently, 310 Albertans are in hospital because of the virus, up from 284 on Thursday, including 58 in intensive care, a decrease of three.

Alberta recorded 11 new deaths from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, including a man in his 80s from the Central zone, for a total of 462.

“Our current situation is grim,” said Hinshaw.

“I continue to be concerned about the rise of these tragic outcomes of COVID-19. Severe outcomes are not limited to those already at the very end of their lives and it is a mistake to think so. This week, two individuals in their 30s died as a result of this virus.”

In Red Deer, the number of active cases as of Friday sits at a record 118, up from 110 on Thursday. Recovered cases are up seven to 253 as the total number of cases attributed to the city rose by 15 to 371.

Red Deer County has 16 active cases as of Friday, while Sylvan Lake added one for a total of 10.

Lacombe has 14 cases, a decrease of two, while Lacombe County held steady with 16.

Rocky Mountain House (Clearwater County) remains with six active cases. Mountain View County is down to 11, Olds has nine and Kneehill County has 11. The County of Stettler and Starland County remain with one active case each.

Numbers continue to rise in Ponoka County, where there are 152 active cases of COVID-19 as of Friday, an increase of 35.

The Central zone as a whole has 564 active cases and 12 hospitalizations.

Red Deer, Sylvan Lake, Lacombe, Lacombe County, Ponoka County and Kneehill County remain on the province’s ‘enhanced’ list, meaning additional measures are in place to limit spread of COVID-19.

Alberta is the only province without some sort of mask mandate.

“All of the policy decisions about how to respond to the pandemic are discussed and the challenges and benefits are looked at carefully,” Hinshaw said. “A decision has not been made about whether or not a mask mandate would be a part of any additional measures in the province.”

Hinshaw added AHS is watching neighbouring provinces and looking very closely at the evidence.

She said she and her team are in a preparation phase regarding what measures are under consideration but the “discussion about what measures would be deemed appropriate has not happened.”

There are currently seven COVID-19 outbreaks in the Central zone, including five in the Red Deer area: Avenue Living Communities office in Red Deer, Drumheller Institution, Olymel in Red Deer, a private gathering in Ponoka, and at Pure Fitness in Red Deer.

Local schools that have reported confirmed cases of COVID-19 over the past week (Nov. 15-19), including St. Joseph High School, Notre Dame High School, Hunting Hills High School, Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School, Father Henri Voisin School, St. Thomas Aquinas Middle School, Innisfail High School, HJ Cody High School and Fox Run School in Sylvan Lake, West Central High School and Pioneer Middle School in Rocky Mountain House.

A ‘watch’ is in effect for Lindsay Thurber, while an ‘outbreak’ remains in effect for Holy Family School.

Clearview Public Schools confirmed a COVID-19 case on Friday affecting three schools – Wm. E. Hay Stettler Secondary School, Stettler Elementary School and Erskine School. Students and staff at who have been in close contact with the individual who tested positive will be contacted by the division, in collaboration with Alberta Health Services, by Sunday at 7 p.m.

(With file from Chris Brown – CHAT News Today)

by Troy Gillard

Red Deer with 118 active COVID-19 cases as Alberta sets another daily record

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