WESTLOCK — COVID-19 cases continue rising in the Westlock area, with two more people testing positive since yesterday.
There are 24 active cases in the Town of Westlock, Westlock County and the Village of Clyde. Since the start of the pandemic, 95 cases have been recorded, 70 people have recovered and one person, a Westlock Continuing Care resident in his 90s, has died.
There continues to be an active outbreak at the Alberta Health Services unit.
New measures have been announced today, the most significant since the start of the pandemic, said Alberta’s chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinhshaw. All measures are province-wide and will last at least four weeks.
Masks are now mandatory everywhere, and all indoor and outdoor gatherings are banned. Starting Sunday, retail will be limited, all restaurants, rec facilities and most services will close.
Today, 1,727 new cases were identified out of 19,000 tests conducted for a 9.41 per cent positivity rate.
There are 1,701 active cases in 426 schools across Alberta (or 18 per cent). Of those, 108 schools are on a watchlist with five or more cases. Currently, there are no schools in the Westlock area with two or more cases.
Hospitalizations grew to 654 people, and 112 of them are in ICU. In Edmonton alone, Hinshaw said, there are 357 people in hospital and 66 in ICU. AHS will cancel 60 per cent of non-urgent scheduled surgeries in the Edmonton zone and limit other medical services.
Nine people have died since yesterday. The death toll in Alberta has reached 640.
Since the first case on March 5, 72,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed; all together, they would’ve made the fifth largest city in Alberta, said Hinshaw. In early October, the positivity rate sat at 1.34 per cent with 184 new cases Oct. 8. The seven-day average today is 1,785 new cases.
There have been outbreaks in almost every type of group setting. The youngest COVID-19 patient was 1, and the oldest 108.
While the deaths “most tragic of all,” Hinshaw reminded that COVID-19 has “lingering side effects and serious outcomes” for people who tested positive.
