30 new deaths reported as Dr. Hinshaw apologizes, clarifies reporting process

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She said she does not intend to diminish the losses whether caused by COVID or anything else.

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“At the same time, we are in a global pandemic. We have an obligation to monitor and report deaths from COVID-19 infection and to be as timely and transparent as possible.”

Hinshaw said reporting always includes all deaths that have COVID as either primary or secondary cause of death, according to the health-care teams involved.

She said a primary cause could be COVID progressing to pneumonia that is the direct cause of death. A secondary cause could be someone with an underlying illness such as heart failure gets COVID and the infection makes their pre-existing condition worse, leading to death.

She said the province is reporting that way to accurately capture the impact COVID-19 is having.

Hinshaw also explained that any reporting system has a tug-of-war between precision and timeliness, saying the more precise it is, the slower it is.

“We have chosen to focus as timely as possible in the interests of transparency,” she said, adding sometimes the initial information provided changes after a review, as was the case on Tuesday.

“While the initial report of the death of the 14-year-old included COVID as a secondary cause, we have now received additional information that indicated that COVID was not a cause of death,” Hinshaw said.

It’s since been removed from the overall death toll, she said, adding that changes are being made to prevent similar situations in the future.

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CENTRAL ZONE

Red Deer has 558 active cases of COVID-19, down 61 from Wednesday.

Meantime, recoveries in Red Deer rose by 82 to 7,999 as the total number of COVID-19 cases attributed to Red Deer rose by 22 in the last day to 8,627.

Red Deer’s death toll stemming from COVID-19 is now 70, with one reported today.

The Central Zone as a whole has 2,645 active cases as of Thursday, down 263 in the last day.

There are 183 hospitalizations, down four, and 14 people receiving intensive care at Red Deer Regional Hospital, down one from Wednesday.

Central Zone has recorded 318 deaths, including 10 reported in the last day.

Active cases across Central Zone (one-day change)

Red Deer County: 147 (-27)

Sylvan Lake: 75 (-2)

Lacombe County: 203 (-21)

City of Lacombe: 127 (-15)

Ponoka County: 291 (-15)

Brazeau County: 113 (+17)

Clearwater County: 185 (-29)

Mountain View County: 77 (-18)

Olds: 29 (-4)

Kneehill County: 104 (-12)

County of Stettler: 75 (-7)

VACCINATIONS

Alberta has delivered 6,281,014 vaccine doses as of Oct. 13, up 21,775 in the last day.

85.6 per cent of Alberta’s eligible 12+ population has received at least one dose (72.8% total population), and 76.5 cent of those eligible are fully vaccinated (65.0% total population).

In Red Deer, 71,227 (77.7% of eligible & 66.9% *total population) people have received at least one dose, up 183. Meanwhile, 63,145 (68.9%/59.3%) are fully vaccinated with two doses, up 230. (*Government of Alberta uses a population of 106,395 for Red Deer; of those 91,672 are eligible)

PROVINCIAL NUMBERS

The active caseload is now 13,423, down 795 from Wednesday. This with the province adding 916 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.

With 12,733 tests conducted over the past 24 hours, the seven-day positivity rate is 8.27 per cent.

There are 1,016 people currently in hospital with COVID-19, down 11 from Wednesday, with 231 of those patients in ICU, down five from yesterday.

Of the 785 not in ICU, 485 are unvaccinated, 74 have had one dose, and 226 have had two doses.

Of the 231 in ICU, 197 are unvaccinated, 12 have had one dose, and 22 have had two doses.

There have been 30 additional deaths reported to Alberta Health in the last 24 hours, bringing the province’s death toll from the virus now to 2,930 (with one subtracted). That’s also 101 over the last three days.

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SCHOOL OUTBREAK ALERT/OUTBREAK LIST – There are 342 schools with active cases of COVID, eight of which are on outbreak (10+ cases), Hinshaw said on Thursday.

WATCH DR. HINSHAW’S FULL UPDATE BELOW:

(with files from CHAT News Today)