By Troy Gillard

Two more city cases

Red Deer now with 16 COVID-19 cases

Mar 25, 2020 | 4:32 PM

Premier Jason Kenney announced 61 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Alberta since Tuesday, bringing the province’s total to 419.

The 61 new cases represent the largest one-day jump Alberta has seen thus far.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Central zone is now 35, up 7 from yesterday.

Red Deer now has 16 cases, two more than on Tuesday.

Red Deer County now has five cases, which is four more than yesterday.

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Lacombe and Olds each have two cases, while Innisfail and Stettler (and county) are reporting one case each.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer, says 33 of the cases in our provinces are believed to be community transmitted.

Twenty people have been hospitalized in Alberta due to COVID-19, eight of them in intensive care.

“Now is not the time to visit grandparents for dinner. Now is not the time to host or attend a potluck dinner with friends. Now is not the time to plan for a family reunion. This is the time to stay home and work together to prevent the spread,” Hinshaw said during her daily update on Wednesday.

“We must all do everything possible to follow all public health recommendations in place,” she added. “All of us have a role and responsibility to stop the spread.”

Hinshaw is asking the public to take extra precautions even within their own homes. This includes not sharing open foods like bowls of popcorn or fruit. Food should be served by just one person so as to limit the number of people touching a utensil.

Hinshaw says she spoke to religious leaders this week about upcoming holidays like Easter and Ramadan and how people should plan for them.

“Now is not the time to plan any travel, even to other cities or provinces or to attend large family gatherings or dinners. We must maintain social distancing practices even when we are together with family.”

Of the province’s total cases, 20 are currently hospitalized of which eight have been admitted to intensive care units (ICU). In total, 24 people have been hospitalized and two patients have died.

A COVID-19 outbreak was confirmed March 24 at the Nelson Home, a Calgary group home for persons with developmental disabilities. A caseworker and two residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and two other residents are symptomatic. All individuals are self-isolating.

To date, nine cases have been identified in continuing care facilities, including one case in Rosedale on the Park and two at Shepherd’s Care Kensington Campus, both in the Edmonton zone.

The number of confirmed recovered cases remains at three. A longer-term process for determining timely reporting of recovered cases is underway.