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Photo: Government of Alberta
By Shane Clausing
Hinshaw covid

Hinshaw concerned with Alberta’s rise in COVID-19 cases as school’s re-open

Sep 9, 2020 | 5:00 AM

Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw says she is concerned with the continued rise of COVID-19 cases in the province, as Alberta added 619 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend.

“There are currently 1,692 active cases in the province. Unfortunately, the most that we have had since May 9,” said Hinshaw.

“Our focus continues to be on limiting the spread of COVID-19 in the community and responding quickly to outbreaks when they occur. However, higher case numbers and more outbreaks can strain our frontline teams.”

She mentioned that with the rise in active cases, a trend has appeared is that higher percentage of new cases are those of close contacts and that there is a rising trend in people who aren’t staying home when they’re feeling a mild illness.

As of September 8, all schools across the province have also officially re-opened for learning, but as schools have re-opened, positive COVID-19 cases have been found which Hinshaw says was not unexpected.

“As many of you know, a number of cases in schools, staff and students were among those reported this weekend. In each case, AHS worked quickly with school officials to identify contacts and ensure that anyone at risk is isolated. This quick action is crucial to keeping schools safe in the days and weeks ahead.”

However, with school’s re-opening across the province and some specific school’s having to isolate entire classes because of a positive COVID-19 test, Hinshaw stressed for patience and preached safety amongst parents, students and staff .

“If your child is a close contact, they will need to isolate for 14 days. Testing can be arranged, but they will need to stay home for the full 14 days even if they test negative.”

“I know that it can be frustrating after just a few days in school, that they already may need to stay home for two days if they’re a close contact. At this time, we need to approach these situations cautiously. Anyone exposed to COVID-19 could become ill at any point in the next two weeks, and a single negative test does not ensure safety.”

Hinshaw added that if a student is in the same class as someone who tests positive for COVID-19, all of the students and staff in that classroom are considered as a close contact.

According to Alberta Health Services, of the positive cases that were found in school’s across the province, they were from community transmission and not inside the school itself.

As for if the plan for schools re-opening is working, Hinshaw explained that as they learn more about COVID-19 in school’s, they will be able to adjust on the fly.

“We’ll be following up to ensure that the plan is working as intended and that there is no risk to the students. We will also closely monitor the spread of the virus in schools. If needed, we will make adjustments to our school models in all locations in Alberta in the weeks ahead.”

The province conducted 47,406 tests in the past 96 hours — 11,386 on Friday, 11,368 on Saturday, 12,091 on Sunday and 12,561 on Monday.

by Shane Clausing