Boyle-area COVID cases jump by four

ATHABASCA - Four of the five active COVID-19 cases added to Athabasca County's tally in the last 24 hours were reported in and around the Village of Boyle.

According to the Alberta government's geospatial map, five more individuals tested positive for the virus within the borders of Athabasca County, bringing the number of active cases to 15. There have been 31 total cases since March, and 16 have since tested negative. No one has died.

Boyle now has nine active cases, of the county's 15.

Athabasca County and the Town of Athabasca's temporary face-covering bylaws are in effect, as of Sunday Nov. 22, when the area was put on 'Enhanced' status by the provincial government after reaching 10 active cases and an active case rate of 50 per 100,000 residents. As of the Nov. 23 report from the province the active case rate now sits at 113.7 per 100,000 residents. There is no face-covering bylaw in Boyle, but the municipality is subject to the same enhanced measures implemented by the province.

Alberta's chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw held an early press conference Monday afternoon, as she was scheduled to meet with the priorities implementation committee of cabinet afterward to give recommendations and an update would be provided tomorrow, but would not give specifics on what those recommendations may be.

She did say we have reached a "precarious point" and likened the current situation in the province to "a snowball rolling down a hill growing bigger and faster, and it will continue unless we implement strong measures to stop it."

"We must take action. Waiting any longer will impact our ability to care for Albertans in the weeks and months ahead. As chief medical officer of health, my role is to provide advice to government on how to protect the health of Albertans," she said.

Hinshaw also reported another 1,549 active cases in the province, bringing the number of currently active cases in Alberta to 13,166. There were also five more deaths, bringing that number to 476. There are 328 individuals in the hospital and 62 of them are in intensive care.