Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw (Photo: Government of Alberta)

By Shaun Penner

COVID-19 UPDATE

No new COVID-19 cases reported in North Zone Monday as province adds 70

May 4, 2020 | 3:52 PM

For the third straight day, Alberta added less than 100 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, while the North Zone saw no increase from Sunday.

There were 70 new cases added for May 4, bringing the province’s total to 5,836. Cases in the North Zone held firm at 221.

However, nine more individuals were reported to have died over the past 24 hours across Alberta, pushing the total number of fatalities to 104 as of Monday. None of the fatalities were reported in Northern Alberta, keeping the death toll at 15.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief public health officer, said four of the nine deaths were from the past 24 hours. The other five have come over the last week-to-10 days and have just recently been confirmed by the provincial lab as deaths that resulted from COVID-19.

Total case numbers in Peace Region municipalities as of May 4 can be found below:

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• City of Grande Prairie: Four cases (Two active, two recovered)
• County of Grande Prairie: Five cases (One active, four recovered)
• M.D. of Greenview: Two cases (One active, one recovered)
• M.D. of Smoky River: 67 cases (21 active, 36 recovered, ten deaths)
• Big Lakes County: 37 cases (15 active, 19 recovered, two deaths)
• M.D. of Lesser Slave River: Five cases (All recovered)
• Northern Sunrise County: Three cases (All recovered)
• M.D. of Peace: Seven cases (All recovered)
• Clear Hills County: One case (Fatal)
• County of Northern Lights: One case (Recovered)
• Mackenzie County: 25 cases (14 active, 11 recovered)

There were 229 more people confirmed to have recovered from COVID-19 in Alberta over the last 24 hours. That means 2,942 people (50.4% of all confirmed cases) have now recovered. 2,790 cases remain active as of May 4.

The provincial lab has processed 3,056 tests over the past 24 hours, with 291 of those being completed for Northern Alberta residents. There have now been 155,179 tests completed, with 12,059 being from the North Zone.

There are now 89 people in hospital with COVID-19 in Alberta as of May 4, 21 of whom are in intensive care.

As mentioned, this is now the third straight day in which there have been less than 100 new cases (97 Saturday, 96 Sunday and 70 Monday). In regards to that downward trend, Dr. Hinshaw said this is not necessarily an indication that the curve is flattening in the province.

She notes that some of the larger case numbers experienced last week came from aggressive testing at sites where outbreaks had been declared, such as the Cargill meatpacking plant in High River, or in the City of Brooks.

“As we’ve been testing in some particular outbreak settings, we have seen numbers rise when those test results come back, and now we are seeing more of a population average, with respect to the testing that has come back within the last 24 hours.”

She added that the news should be encouraging to Albertans, but vigilance is still needed to help prevent any possible outbreak.

“We can see with some of the outbreaks we are experiencing, that depending on the circumstances of how people interact with each other, that there can be spread where a small number of cases can quickly become a large number.”

Dr. Hinshaw also announced the province is expanding its list of symptoms that qualify a person to receive testing. Fever, chills, a new or worsening of a chronic cough or shortness of breath, sore throat or painful swallowing, stuffy or runny nose, headaches, muscle or joint aches, feeling unwell in general or new fatigue or severe exhaustion, gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or unexplained loss of appetite, loss of sense of smell or taste, or conjunctivitis (pink eye) are all now on the list.

Testing has also been expanded so that all close contacts of confirmed cases are eligible and all new admissions to any continuing care facility in the province.

(With files from Chris Brown, CHAT News)