Confirmed cases of Albertans of COVID-19 will begin to rise as the province expands testing, a trend that materialized Tuesday with 138 new people with COVID-19.
Alberta chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said in a briefing Tuesday afternoon there have been two additional deaths of residents in long term care facilities, one each at Calgary’s McKenzie Towne and Shepherd’s Care Kensington Village in Edmonton.
In total, 21 residents in the McKenzie Towne care home have died.
Hinshaw confirmed the “vast majority” of the 138 new cases of people with COVID-19 across the province since yesterday – which include both probable and lab confirmed cases – are in the Calgary region. In total, 128 of the people live in the Calgary region.
She said health authorities are watching the Calgary situation “very, very closely” and will have more data available by the end of the week to understand what is happening.
Of the total 1,870 cases of people with COVID-19 in Alberta, Hinshaw said 914 have now recovered. Today there were 37 more people who recovered from COVID-19.
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With ramped-up testing that applies to any Albertan with COVID-19 symptoms, Hinshaw advised Albertans to be prepared for a steady rise in the number of cases of people with the virus.
“While we are seeing a steady rise in recovered cases in the province, we should also expect to see a rise of cases in the coming days, as a result of expanded testing,” she said. There were 2,868 tests completed in the last 24 hours.
During the briefing, Hinshaw suggested people with important gatherings planned “in the next few months” – such as weddings – should plan to postpone their event, or at least make them smaller.
“I realize this is not welcome news, and I share in your frustration of the situation,” she said. “Believe me when I say I wish it were within my power to give everyone back the life they had three months ago.”
Health Minister Tyler Shandro announced $3 million in funding for a group of Albertans he said are often overlooked: caregivers. The funds will go to Caregivers Alberta to expand support for caregivers in the midst of COVID-19.
“Our ability to weather this pandemic and the weeks and the months ahead depends on how well we take care of one another, and we want to ensure that caregivers across the province have the supports that they need,” he said.
