Even though a final decision has not yet been made on entering Phase One of a relaunch program to restart the economy, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, shares her thoughts about why she thinks it can be considered at this time.
“Much of the province has been successful at flattening the (COVID-19) curve. Hospitalizations and ICU admissions are down. Recovered case numbers are up. And I am encouraged to see fewer daily new cases than even one week ago,” she said in her televised daily briefing.
Having said that, Dr. Hinshaw added that the new habits formed around social distancing and personal hygiene needed to remain “and, in fact, will become even more important as we leave our homes more often.”
“We put our first restrictions in place after identifying one case of community transmission. That was in early March. I know it feels like a long time ago. And that is exactly the point. Much has changed in our society since then . . . and it will remain different for a long time still,” she said.
Even as active cases continued to climb down, two people have succumbed to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, one of them a resident of J.B. Wood Continuing Care Centre in High Prairie. Two deaths reported earlier have also been ruled out as unrelated to COVID-19; therefore, the total number of COVID-related deaths in Alberta remains at 117.
Active cases throughout the province are at 1,524, down 223 from the last report.
COVID-19 patients in hospital are at 73, up two from the last report, with 12 admitted in intensive care units.
Below is a breakdown, by health zones, of active COVID-19 cases in Alberta.
- Calgary Zone – 1,065 active cases (minus 94)
- South Zone – 343 active cases (minus 127)
- Edmonton Zone – 62 (minus 3)
- North Zone – 32 active cases (plus 1)
- Central Zone – 17 (unchanged)
- There are 5 active cases and 20 recovered cases in zones that are yet to be confirmed.