By Troy Gillard

Hinshaw asks rural Albertans to do their part

Red Deer up to 289 active COVID-19 cases

Dec 3, 2020 | 3:50 PM

Alberta reported another 1,854 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, a new daily record.

That’s out of 19,622 test results over last 24 hours as the provincial positivity rose to about 9.5 per cent.

There are now 17,743 active cases in the province, an increase of 599. The number of recoveries sits at 44,705, an increase of 1,241.

There are now 511 Albertans in hospital because of COVID-19, an increase of eight, including 97 in ICU, unchanged from Wednesday.

Alberta reported 14 more deaths related to the novel coronavirus on Wednesday to bring the total to 575.

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“These numbers are very concerning, and I know that AHS is watching them very closely,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health said during her daily update.

Red Deer saw its number of active cases rise by 20 to 289. Recovered cases are up 8 to 375 as the total number of cases attributed to the city rose by 28 to sit at 664.

Red Deer County saw its active case count drop by four to sit at 74, while Sylvan Lake saw its number of active cases increase by five to a total of 70.

Clearwater County (Rocky Mountain House) now has 43 active cases, an increase of four.

Lacombe County now has 46 active cases, a decrease of one, while Lacombe has 43, an increase of four.

Ponoka County saw its active case count fall by 15 on Thursday to 161.

Mountain View County is up three to 21 active cases, Olds added one for a total of 24, and Kneehill County added one to sit with 12. Starland County added two more and now has six, while the County of Stettler added four more active cases to sit with 17.

There are now 1,251 active cases of COVID-19 in the Central zone, an increase of 25. There are 37 hospitalizations in the zone, including five in ICU.

Hinshaw made a specific point on Thursday of asking rural Albertans to do their part to help limit spread of the virus.

“We are seeing increased spread in many rural communities,” she explained. “COVID-19 is not a Calgary problem or Edmonton problem. This is a provincial problem within the context of a global problem.”

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Hinshaw said that of the 15 geographic regions in Alberta with the highest COVID-19 infection rates, one-third of them are outside of Calgary and Edmonton. She also noted that Alberta is seeing growing outbreaks in the Central, North and South zones.

A look at zones cases across the province as of Thursday:

– Edmonton Zone: 8,331 active cases and 17,309 recovered

– Calgary Zone: 6,445 active cases and 18,942 recovered

– Central Zone: 1,251 active cases and 1,877 recovered

– North Zone: 991 active cases and 3,096 recovered

– South Zone: 633 active cases and 3,349 recovered

– 92 active cases and 132 recovered cases in zones to be confirmed.

“I know that many rural areas did not see widespread transmission in the spring or summer, and so it’s natural that some people living in those areas may feel safe from COVID due to their smaller populations and distance from large urban centres. They may wonder why they should wear a mask or not host a party in their home. Unfortunately, our overall active case rate proves that COVID-19 doesn’t care where you live or what your postal code is. It only takes one case entering a community to cause significant spread.”

Hinshaw stressed that it is important that all Albertans follow the key public health measures wherever they live.

“If people in a community aren’t consistently observing physical distancing, wearing masks when appropriate or staying home when they feel unwell, it doesn’t take long to infect a large percentage of the population,” she explained.

“Coping with this virus is a challenge for everyone. But being further away from healthcare, especially from advanced services like ICU, can also make the experience even more daunting for those living in rural areas.

“We are all Albertans, and as a province we are all in this together.”

As of Thursday, there are 766 active and 2,645 recovered cases at long-term care facilities and supportive/home living sites. To date, 367 of the province’s 575 reported deaths (64 per cent) have been in long-term care facilities or supportive/home living sites.

Currently, 407 schools (about 17 per cent) are on alert or have outbreaks, with 1,561 cases in total. Of those, 187 schools are on alert, with 290 total cases. So far, in-school transmission has likely occurred in 261 schools. Of these, 126 have had only one new case result.