Three recovered COVID-19 cases in Bonnyville area, two in Cold Lake as province updates data

The Bonnyville and Cold Lake areas highlighted on the Alberta Government website with COVID-19 cases. 

With no new COVID-19 cases reported in our region on Monday, there are four active cases in the Bonnyville area and one active case in the Cold Lake area.

Alberta’s geographic map has more specific data on the number of active and recovered cases of COVID-19, provincially, and in the Lakeland area.

That means three people in the Bonnyville area and two in the Cold Lake area have recovered from COVID-19.

Seven total cases have been reported in the Bonnyville area and three in the Cold Lake area.

The case in the Vermilion River County area has recovered.

This ends three consecutive days of case increases in the Lakeland.

On Monday, 98 new cases were reported in the province for a total of 1348 cases in Alberta.

One death was confirmed in Alberta since Sunday, another resident of McKenzie Towne Long Term Care in Calgary, a key outbreak in the province.

Twenty-four people have passed away from the virus in the province.

Just over 200 cases, 204, could be community transmission.

However, 361 people have recovered from COVID-19 in Alberta.

• Calgary Zone: 817 cases
• Edmonton Zone: 351 cases
• North Zone: 89 cases
• Central Zone: 66 cases
• South Zone: 22 cases
• Unknown: three cases

Testing to expand

Alberta is second to Australia in testing rate, said chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw said on Monday, and testing measures will be expanded.

Testing priorities now include people with shortness of breath, runny nose, cough, fever, or sore throat who perform the following roles:

• Group home and shelter workers
• First responders including firefighters,
• Provincial and federal correctional staff
• Enforcement such as police, peace and bylaw officers and public health inspectors

Effective Tuesday morning, testing will be expanded to anyone 65 or older in the province, who has fever, cough, shortness of breath or sore throat.

If you’re feeling sick your first step is to stay home, said Dr. Hinshaw.

“Your next step should be to take the AHS online assessment. There is an assessment tool for the public and one for health care workers, law enforcement and first responders.

That will be directed to 811 to schedule a swab.

Non-medical masks can be used additionally with distancing

Non-medical masks can help protect others from you during the COVID-19 pandemic, health officials in Canada said on Monday.

Dr. Hinshaw said that Albertans can use a non-medical mask when in public, as the country has changed its tune to its use, as long as residents take precautious steps in the disposal of those masks.

“For the average Albertan if over the course of their day-to-day activities, if they are two metres away from everyone else, wearing a mask will not provide any added benefit because there are some potential harms of mask use…only those in situations when they can’t avoid getting in closer contact with people, that it would be more valuable in those situations,” said Dr. Hinshaw during a press conference on Monday.

Masks should be well-fitted and not gape at the sides.

They can be made from cloth or from t-shirts.

You are asked to wash your hands before applying the mask, not touch the mask as its applied, and to wash your hands before and after removing the mask.

Cloth masks should only be used for a short time as they can get trap contaminants at a higher risk, said Dr. Hinshaw.

Alberta will release COVID-19 data modelling Tuesday

Premier Jason Kenney will address Albertans on Tuesday night on how health officials foresee the pandemic hitting the province.

He said their models are not a perfect prediction on what could come, but an analysis of the information they have available.

The nation’s top officials have not released their projections.

The Legislature will reconvene this week to discuss further measures that could give municipalities more authority during this time.