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MONDAY UPDATE

Active COVID-19 cases in Red Deer hold steady

Sep 14, 2020 | 4:06 PM

Alberta recorded an additional 418 cases of COVID-19 over the weekend.

There were 105 cases confirmed on Friday (Sept. 11), 173 on Sept. 12 and 140 on Sept. 13.

The total number of COVID-19 cases across the province now stands at 15,833.

There are 1,538 active cases, up 94 from Friday, and 14,041 recovered cases, up 323.

The province conducted 46,126 tests in the past 72 hours – 12,757 on Sept. 11, 18,919 on Sept. 12 (new daily record) and 14,451 on Sept. 13.

There are currently 37 Albertans in hospital because of the virus, including seven in ICU.

An additional death is being attributed to the virus to bring Alberta’s total to 254.

As of Monday, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, says there are 42 cases confirmed at 35 schools across the province. Outbreaks where there have been two or more confirmed cases have now been declared for six schools in the province. (See map)

In the Central Zone, there are now 49 active cases, an increase of four from Friday, and 590 recoveries, an increase of 11. There are currently no hospitalizations or active outbreaks in the zone.

In Red Deer, the number of active COVID-19 cases is unchanged from Friday at 16, while six more recoveries have been attributed to the city for a total of 86.

Sylvan Lake (five active), Lacombe (five active) and Lacombe County (seven active) each recorded an additional COVID-19 recovery over the weekend.

Ponoka County now has one active case. There are no other active cases in the Red Deer area as of Monday’s report.

The interactive map showing the locations of all COVID-19 cases in Alberta can be found here.

Hinshaw spoke to the increased anxiety that many Albertans are dealing with during this time, including the impacts on students and teachers who are dealing with intense scrutiny during school re-entry.

“I want to be very clear that we continue to act quickly to limit the spread of COVID-19 in schools and that our commitment to transparency in reporting should not be seen as a heightened risk of COVID-19 in school environments,” she said, adding that community transmission levels have been higher in recent weeks and cases are being identified in all sectors of society.

“What matters are the interventions in place to prevent spread in the school environment.”

Hinshaw said the interventions are being monitored and necessary changes will be made.