WESTLOCK — The Westlock area is currently on the province’s watchlist with 13 active COVID-19 cases.
Seven people have tested positive for COVID since Oct. 21, according to the province’s geospatial pandemic tracker, adding to the steady increase in active cases since Monday. The rate of active cases sits at 95.1 per 100,000 people, well above the provincial threshold of 50.
In total, 21 people have tested positive since the start of the pandemic, and eight have recovered. There have been no COVID deaths recorded in the area, which includes the Town of Westlock, Westlock County and the Village of Clyde.
Three of the 13 cases recorded this week were in schools, with two cases at R.F. Staples and one at Westlock Elementary. Students and staff who came in close contact with them are currently in self-isolation.
Provincially, there are 3,651 active cases, 1,751 of them in the Edmonton zone which continues to make up for more than half of the cases in the province.
Fourteen people are in ICU of the 112 COVID-related hospitalizations. The death toll has risen to 300.
Yesterday, Alberta’s chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw announced Alberta Health Services was postponing non-urgent surgeries and some outpatient services. Voluntary measures were introduced in Edmonton two weeks ago, when Hinshaw asked that gatherings be limited to 15 people, but there are no plans to introduce “indiscriminate” restrictions, said premier Jason Kenney.
He and four other MLAs are currently self-isolating after Municipal Affairs minister Tracy Allard tested positive on Wednesday.
