By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

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10 more cases of COVID-19 in Alberta

Mar 14, 2020 | 2:52 PM

There are now 39 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Alberta.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, says six of the new cases are in the Calgary zone and four are in the Edmonton zone.

She says two of the people are in their 60s and in hospital in intensive care. The others are in isolation at home and are expected to make a full recovery.

Eight are travel-related or connected to previously announced cases, while Hinshaw says investigations are underway to determine how the other two people became infected.

“Given the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, we know parents, students, and school officials are very concerned,” Hinshaw said Saturday.

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“I want to assure all Albertans that their children’s safety is top of mind in all our decisions, and we are making the best public health decisions we can with the information we have, in this rapidly developing situation. We are prepared to make changes if and when the situation warrants it.”

Schools

On Saturday, a conference call was held with more than 500 representatives from Alberta’s school boards, and other education stakeholders.

Hinshaw said the province of Alberta continues to monitor the situation, and will still not be advising the closure of schools.

She said, however, that she could recommend the closure of an individual school, or a group of schools, if it was warranted. Hinshaw added that if a school were to close, it’s likely that school would need to remain closed until September at the earliest.

Schools should continue to eliminate gatherings of 250 or more people, other large gatherings of students, and consider cancelling extracurricular activities that involve physical contact.

The province has also released a new guide to help schools and daycares in reducing the spread of COVID-19.

Red Deer Public Schools Superintendent Stu Henry issued a letter to parents today stating that the division has a zero tolerance policy for children with any respiratory symptoms attending school. The same applies to staff.

“We recognize the impact this new direction will have on families,” Henry says. “If we call you to pick up your child, we ask that you come immediately as per these new Alberta Health regulations.”

Henry notes that school closure decisions will be made by Alberta Health Services and Alberta Education.

Flights and travel

Because so many international travel-related cases are being confirmed, the province will provide flight-specific information for recent passengers on its dedicated COVID-19 page.

That information will include flight number, date, and any seats on the flight that might be at risk of exposure to coronavirus.

Flights listed thus far include five landing in Calgary, two landing in Edmonton, and one departing Calgary, all to or from various international destinations like Frankfurt, Vancouver, Toronto, London, Amsterdam and Cairo.

At this time, flight attendants and pilots are exempted from travel recommendations. Other professions may be exempt on a case-by-case basis.

Provincial Operations Centre (POC)

The POC in Edmonton has been elevated from a level 2 to a level 3 — out of a possible 4. Level 3 indicates an increased amount of cross-government coordination through the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.

Hinshaw also noted that around 300,000 Albertans have utilized the new online assessment tool since it went live on Friday.

You can watch today’s live stream below:

Another news conference is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. Hinshaw noted Saturday that going forward, information about specific cases will be provided in aggregate form on the province’s COVID-19 site.