WESTLOCK — COVID-19 cases in Westlock spiked over the weekend to 23 active and eight recovered.
That’s a rate of 168.2 active cases per 100,000 people — one of the highest in the province — and more than twice the case requirement for a community of this size to be placed on the province’s COVID-19 watchlist.
Of those 23, at least 10 are in schools: R.F. Staples School has at least seven, Eleanor Hall in Clyde has one case confirmed, and Westlock Elementary School has two.
Alberta’s chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw said in a press conference today that the rise of cases in schools is a symptom of community spread, and not the other way around.
“Schools are not a main driver of community transmission,” she said, “but that a rise in community transmission is resulting in more school exposures. This reinforces the importance of addressing the rising spread we see in our communities.”
The last reporting date for COVID-19 was Oct. 22, when cases got to 13 active of 21 total.
This evening, Town of Westlock councillors will be debating two different face covering bylaws: one for all public places and the other for town facilities and the Community Assistance Bus only. Only one will be chosen, if council decides to implement a bylaw.
In Athabasca, there are three active cases of 15 total and Barrhead sits at eight active of 16 total.
Alberta Health Services identified an average of 480 cases per day over the weekend: 364 on Friday, 572 on Saturday, and 504 on Sunday. There are now 4,477 active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta, 2,179 in Edmonton alone.
Hinshaw said that while Alberta hasn’t yet reached the five per cent critical point of infection, the province needs to respond to the actual situation, not the spring metric. “We have now crossed a tipping point and are losing the balance that we have been seeking.”
Sixteen people are in ICU of the 118 COVID-related hospitalizations in the province, and seven more people have died. “This is a heartbreaking number,” said Hinshaw. The COVID-19 death toll in Alberta has reached 307.
“I don’t ask that you fear COVID-19, but that you respect it. COVID is a novel disease that is not just the flu,” said Hinshaw.
“It has the ability to overwhelm our healthcare system and weaken essential services if we let it do so. Respecting COVID-19 means taking public health advice seriously and taking care of not only ourselves, but also our communities by preventing transmission.”
15-person limits in the cities
The 15-person limit on all social gatherings is now mandatory in the cities of Edmonton and Calgary. It was earlier adopted as a voluntary measure in Edmonton when cases began to rise there. It applies to all events, apart from wedding ceremonies (not receptions) and funerals, and will be reassessed in a month.
“These social gatherings tend to be less structured (than eating in a restaurant, e.g.) and can struggle to implement key measures like physical distancing and handwashing to reduce the risk of exposure,” said Hinshaw.
Hinshaw said that in the last two weeks in Edmonton and Calgary, 15 per cent of all outbreaks were linked to social events, but a third of outbreak-related cases resulted from these gatherings. Only one outbreak has been linked to restaurants, and less than one per cent of active cases in Calgary are linked to those exposures.
Two new voluntary measures have been recommended within those boundaries: wearing masks in all indoor workplaces, except when alone; and reducing cohorts to no more than three.
Starting today, AHS will allow event organizers to notify attendees if a COVID-19 test is linked to their event. They’ll receive a written notification they can e-mail directly to attendees within 24 hours of being contacted by AHS.
“One of the challenges of rising cases is that it creates pressure on one of the key elements of our COVID-19 response, including contact tracing. We have been working with AHS on new strategies to more effectively and efficiently notify close contacts of confirmed cases of COVID-19,” said Hinshaw.
More than 800 people are working as contact tracers, and AHS will be increasing that number.
When the first cases of COVID-19 were identified at Pembina Hills schools, Westlock principals told the News they notified parents of close contacts before AHS to prevent any possible delays.
AHS will continue to notify close contacts directly outside of those events.
