Alberta shatters daily COVID-19 record with 'about 800' new cases - CBC.ca

Alberta shattered another COVID-19 record on Thursday, recording “about 800” new cases over the past 24 hours.

Detailed case numbers were not available due to technical problems with the province’s reporting system, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said at a news conference.

“While I don’t have detailed case numbers today, I can tell you that about 800 new cases have been identified in the last 24 hours,” she said. “Currently nine hospitals across the province have outbreaks, including a new outbreak declared yesterday at the Chinook Regional Hospital.

Hospitals are still safe, she said, and people who need urgent care should not hesitate to seek it.

“That said, I am very concerned about the levels of hospitalizations for COVID-19 in Edmonton and Calgary,” Hinshaw said. “We must protect our health system by reducing community transmission. The fact that we are now reporting 800 new cases is extremely concerning.

The rising numbers show that measures introduced 10 days ago in Edmonton and Calgary are not working, she said. That means in seven to 10 days Alberta’s hospital numbers will rise further, she said, which means that care for Albertans with other issues besides COVID will be impacted.

Far too many people with symptoms of the illness are still going to work or attending social gatherings, said Hinshaw, who warned that new public health measure will become necessary unless the case numbers soon begin declining.

“In Edmonton, nine per cent of active cases worked while they had symptoms. A further eight per cent visited retail or service businesses, and eight per cent attended a social gathering. The data is similar for Calgary, where 11 per cent worked while symptomatic and nine per cent travelled. Further, seven per cent attended a social gathering.”

With more than 2,500 active cases in each city, she said, that means at least 500 people did not stay home while symptomatic.

“This is significant,” Hinshaw said. “I am calling on Albertans to please stop all activities if you have any symptoms. By leaving your home for any reason other than getting tested or seeking health care, you are putting others at risk and potentially spreading the virus, so that one case can lead to many.”

Cases quadrupled

Active cases of the illness in Alberta have quadrupled in the last five weeks.

That stark reality prompted the province’s chief medical officer of health to issue a dire warning earlier this week.

“When COVID-19 starts to escalate, it can do so quickly and dramatically,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw said Tuesday at a news conference. “Within the next few days, we will start to see if the recent public health measures, including the limits on social gatherings in Edmonton and Calgary, are enough to reduce the rate of transmission.

“If they are not, we must consider other options.”

Albertans will find out later today just where those case numbers are headed. Dr. Hinshaw will update the province at a news conference scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

That news conference has been temporarily postponed.

Alberta has reported a total of 2,783 new cases of COVID-19 over the past five days.

That’s an average of 556 cases each day.

Active cases in the province have been rising steadily for five weeks, and for some time now each day’s total breaks the record set the day before.

At the end of September, Alberta’s active case total stood at 1,574. Over the next five weeks that quadrupled.