An Albertan in his 20s has died of COVID-19, Alberta Health announced Thursday as 113 new cases of the illness were also confirmed.
This is the second time an Albertan in their 20s has died from the disease.
The young adult was one of five new deaths reported by Alberta Health.
The man lived in the Edmonton zone and Alberta’s chief medical officer of health said he had “chronic conditions” but wouldn’t provide any further information, citing privacy reasons.
Two deaths were reported in the North zone: a man in his 70s and a woman in her 50s. In the Calgary zone, a woman in her 70s and a man in his 80s also have died. Alberta Health said the man’s death was linked to the outbreak at All Colony Seniors Lodge.
“Whether an individual is in their 20s or older, it’s always a loss and I would want to express my sympathies to family and friends, both of [the man in his 20s] and all those who we’ve lost to COVID-19,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw said.
As of Thursday, there were 1,494 active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta. Though Hinshaw noted that number was lower than the day before, she said it was “still a concerning total.”
There are currently 43 people in hospital with seven of those in the ICU.
On Wednesday, the province completed 9,711 tests. To date, 1,072,681 coronavirus tests have been completed.
Retrospective testing finds earlier first case
The province has announced that after testing more than 23,000 samples that were taken for other respiratory illnesses between Dec. 1, 2019 and March 7, 2020, a positive case of COVID-19 has been found earlier than the first reported case on March 9.
The testing has shown there was a sample collected on Feb. 24 that tested positive. That’s nine days before Alberta’s first official case. Hinshaw pointed to the short difference in time between cases and the fact that similar testing in China has shown the virus was actually in that country two months before its first official case as evidence that Alberta’s reaction and response to the pandemic was successful.
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“I do think it highlights the decisions that we made and the timing of when we did expand our testing availability to all travellers — and then all who had symptoms — was appropriate,” Hinshaw said.
The person had returned from travel to the U.S. when they became sick and was tested for influenza because testing criteria had not been expanded to include all travellers at that time.
“We were the first province to expand our testing to all travellers very early on because we did see there were cases coming from countries that we didn’t otherwise anticipate,” Hinshaw said.
“Having that single case really validates our approach.”
New ways to receive test results
Effective immediately, Albertans can now learn the results of their coronavirus tests – positive or negative – via text message.
This is on top of the ability to opt in for a call about a negative result from an auto-dialer system.
The new system will send an alert to the person who received the test – or the parent or guardian of a child who has been tested – as soon as the test result is available.
“Albertans will be able to select their choice of notification options when they book their appointment through Alberta Health Services,” Hinshaw said.
Anyone who receives a positive test result will still receive a follow-up call from Alberta Health Services for follow-up and cases management — these other options “simply give people the ability to be notified as soon as it’s available.”
Albertans will only be able to sign up for a text notification if getting tested at one of the AHS testing facilities.
Hinshaw said Alberta Health is still working to expand testing capacity and to speed up the process in other areas as well and said she should have more information in the coming days.
© 2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
