WESTLOCK — Over the course of one week, 17 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in the Westlock area.
The great majority of those cases were recorded over the weekend and there are now 22 active cases in the Town of Westlock, Westlock County and the Village of Clyde.
Alberta’s chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw said the steady rise in cases across the province is “extremely troubling.”
The area sits at 93 cases recorded since the start of the pandemic, getting progressively closer to 100 cases total. Seventy people have recovered, and one person at the Westlock Continuing Care Centre, a resident in his 90s, has died.
An outbreak is still active at the Continuing Care Centre, and the Associate Medical Clinic shut down last week after an exposure to COVID-19. The clinic reopened today, staff announced via Facebook.
Over the last 24 hours, 1,735 new cases were identified out of 20,300 tests conducted for a positivity rate of 8.5 per cent.
“The high case numbers we saw reported over the weekend and the ones we saw today were from people who were largely exposed between a week to 10 days ago. However, the continued rise in new cases and hospitalizations underscores the seriousness of the situation we are facing. I will be blunt: so far, we are not bending the curve back down,” said Hinshaw.
There 20,067 active cases in the province, again topping the provincial counts across Canada. Ontario reported 15,547 active cases, and Quebec has 14,326.
Eighteen per cent of Alberta’s schools (or 414) have active COVID-19 cases — a total of 1,644. There are outbreaks in 237 schools and 106 are on watch list with five or more cases.
Hospitalizations grew to 609, and 108 people are in ICU. Sixteen people died since yesterday, six of whom were linked to the outbreak at the Edmonton Chinatown Centre. The death toll in Alberta reached 631.
“The rising fatalities that we are reporting is a tragic reminder of the deadly power of this virus and why it is vital that we slow the spread.”
Hinshaw clarified that people who live alone can socialize indoors with two close contacts “as long as they are the same two contacts for the duration of the restrictions.” Those contacts don’t need to be from the same household or live alone.
Rapid tests rolled out
Alberta Health Services is rolling out rapid tests in COVID-19 assessment centres in St. Paul, Slave Lake, one in Calgary and one in Edmonton.
“These tests will provide faster, more convenient testing for the disease,” said Hinshaw. People can get positive results “within hours.”
They’ll be used for patients who are within the first seven days of showing symptoms.
“I need to remind everyone that in those without symptoms, the rapid tests are less accurate. In addition, they are less sensitive than the usual test, so those who have symptoms and test negative with the rapid test will still need to isolate while they wait for the results with the molecular lab testing,” Hinshaw said.
“What this test does offer is faster identification of positive cases. Fast-tracking the testing process in this way will allow healthcare teams to prioritize the cases that are still infectious and focus efforts where they can have the greatest impact on preventing further transmission.”
AHS will be expanding the use of rapid tests in long term care and shelters.
Editor’s note: The Westlock News was considering limiting local COVID-19 coverage to one update per week or exceptional situations. Given the steady rise in cases in the region over the course of the Nov. 30-Dec. 7 week, we will be going back to daily updates starting today.
