Active cases rise to six in County of Barrhead

The number of active COVID-19 cases rose over the weekend to six within the County of Barrhead.

On Nov. 27, the geospatial map that lists COVID-19 cases by municipality indicated there were four active cases and 25 recovered cases in the county.

However, by Nov. 30, the county was listed as having six active cases and 26 recovered cases for a total of 32.

It should be stressed that the geospatial map does not differentiate between the town and county of Barrhead, so the active cases could be within either municipality.

There are no schools in the Barrhead area listed as having a COVID-19 outbreak, which is defined as two or more cases within a single school.

No acute or long-term care facilities are listed as experiencing an outbreak in the county.

Woodlands County is still listed as having one recovered case, while the Town of Whitecourt has six active cases and 28 recovered cases.

Lac Ste. Anne County has 36 active cases and 81 recovered cases. There have also been five deaths within the municipality; the Mayerthorpe Extendicare is listed as having an outbreak.

The number of active cases within Alberta now stands at 16,454. In the last 24 hours alone, an additional 1,733 new cases were identified after completing more than 20,000 tests.

A total of 453 Albertans are hospitalized due to COVID-19, while 96 Albertans are in ICU.

The death toll now stands at 541, including one recent death of a 90-year-old male in the Town of Westlock.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw stated on Nov. 30 that she was alarmed by the rising number of cases reported today and over the weekend.

“This is another reminder that COVID-19 has a long incubation period, meaning the actions we take today will not be seen until 10 to 14 days from now,” she said.

“I suspect that we will continue to see cases and hospitalizations rise over the next several days as we wait for the impact of the restrictions that were announced last week.”

Hinshaw said each Albertan must remain more vigilant than ever and lower the number of active cases to protect each other and the health system.

“As I’ve said before, there is no silver bullet to combating COVID-19. It takes a number of efforts together to minimize transmission, including physical distancing, wearing masks and practicing good hand hygiene regularly. And we need to continue with these for months to come.”