ALBERTA – The province has seen its largest one day jump in confirmed COVID-19 cases to date.
Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw reported 162 new cases of the virus have been confirmed in the province on Thursday (April 16).
“We have not yet seen the peak of COVID-19 in Alberta,” Hinshaw said. “It is likely we will continue to see occasional cases in every part of Alberta, including in some health care settings.”
Two more people have died due to COVID-19, bringing the provincial total to 50. A total of 2,158 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the province.
There have been 18 COVID-19 cases reported inthe Bow Valley, with eight active cases and 10 recovered.
There have been 2,779 tests completed in the last 24 hours.
Hinshaw said there was an expectation that more confirmed cases would be found as the province expanded testing eligibility. COVID-19 testing was expanded to any Calgary Zone residents experiencing symptoms that include sore throat, runny nose, coughing, fever and shortness of breath on Friday (April 10), and to all Albertans with symptoms on Monday (April 13).
There was a significant spike in the first few days after opening up testing in the Calgary Zone in terms of the number of COVID-19 referrals for testing, Hinshaw said, adding that there have been about 6,000 each day.
The number of referrals has continued to grow as testing has expanded.
Hinshaw reported that the province is unable to provide comprehensive COVID-19 data due to a power failure late Tuesday (April 14) evening that caused a small electrical fire at the province’s data centre, which brought down the reporting system. Teams are working to restore all applications as soon as possible, she said, adding that they hope to have the issue resolved by Friday.
The majority of COVID-19 cases were being found in Calgary before this service disruption, Hinshaw said.
“Unfortunately, because of our data system outages I don’t have the details and the breakdown of those 162 [cases] and where they are all from,” Hinshaw said. “Hopefully tomorrow we’ll have all of our data systems running again and we will be able to provide some of that information.”
Hinshaw said her team is looking at all available evidence to understand and plan for the loosening of public health restrictions that have been put in place. She added that it is important to keep in mind that any restrictions that are eased off need to take into account the overarching effect on society.
Hinshaw reiterated that the best way to prevent the spread of the virus is by regular hand washing, practising social distancing and following public health measures.
Wearing masks can help in preventing the spread of the virus from someone who is ill and may not know it, she said. Hinshaw noted that wearing masks is not supported by evidence as ideal protection against being exposed to the virus by others.
“If you are feeling sick you need to stay home,” Hinshaw said.
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