Photo: Government of Alberta

By EverythingGP Staff

COVID-19 UPDATE

Six new cases in Mackenzie County area Friday as Alberta tops 4,000

Apr 24, 2020 | 4:22 PM

The Mackenzie County area has added six new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, while the province of Alberta surpassed 4,000 total cases for April 24.

The area that includes the communities of High Level, La Crete and Fort Vermillion, among others, now has 17 cases as of Friday. 16 of those cases are active.

4,017 cases have now been confirmed across the province as of Friday.

No fatalities were reported in the North Zone Friday, but the provincial death toll from COVID-19 did jump to 72 as of April 24, a recorded increase of five from Thursday.

Case totals for Peace Region municipalities as of April 24 can be found below:

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• City of Grande Prairie: Two cases (Both recovered)
• County of Grande Prairie: Five cases (Four active, one recovered)
• M.D. of Greenview: Two cases (One active, one recovered)
• M.D. of Smoky River: 51 cases (17 active, 24 recovered, ten deaths)
• Big Lakes County: 22 cases (Five active, 15 recovered, two deaths)
• M.D. of Lesser Slave River: Five cases (One active, four recovered)
• Northern Sunrise County: Three cases (All recovered)
• M.D. of Peace: Seven cases (One active, six recovered)
• Clear Hills County: One case (Fatal)
• County of Northern Lights: One case (Recovered)
• Mackenzie County: 17 cases (16 active, one recovered)

1,397 Albertans have now recovered from COVID-19. 9,393 tests have been completed in Northern Alberta, while 116,859 tests have been completed province-wide.

Alberta’s chief medical officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, also responded to the disappointment she has received in regards to the province’s decision to cancel mass gatherings through the summer.

“I know the curve shown in our modelling work may have left the impression that the virus will go away over the summer. That is not the case. The virus that causes COVID-19 will be with us for many months to come.”

She adds festivals and events, like the Calgary Stampede or even the Grande Prairie Stompede, which have been cancelled in response to the virus, can create extreme spread of the virus in a short time.

“We have had events where 80 per cent of attendees were infected, and the common theme in all of these is that the source did not know they had COVID(-19), or there was possibly an environmental source with high touch surfaces.”

Hinshaw emphasized that she understands the burden it places on Albertans to cancel summer events, but reiterated that it is too risky to break social distancing mandates without having proper protections in place first.

“The kinds of social gatherings we are used to, even in the summer, can result in significant spread of the virus from just one person, who may not even know they are infected.

“The results can be explosive, far reaching and deadly.”