Thread by @CMOH_Alberta

Here is a summary thread of today’s #COVID19AB public health update.

In the last 24 hours, we have confirmed 107 new cases, bringing our total to 1,075. We suspect 137 cases may be community transmission, an increase of 29 from yesterday. (1/7)

Sadly, there were 5 more deaths, 4 at the McKenzie Towne Continuing Care Centre in Calgary, bringing the number of deaths there to 8.

A woman in her 20s from Edmonton has also passed – this is a tragic reminder that young people are also at risk. (2/7)

The measures we have in place are to protect all of us.

Until we have more information about who may be at greatest risk, and more evidence about treatments, the best way to prevent severe illness is for all of us to perform physical distancing. (3/7)

I am pleased to say that 196 people are recovered, 22 more than yesterday.

We have changed our testing approach, shifting from looking at travel-related cases to possible community transmission in higher risk populations, using resources to identify community spread. (4/7)

It may appear we are seeing a spike, but labs are working through a backlog of swabs. We’re tracking cases who don’t have a link to another known case, and while those numbers have grown, the number represents when the lab completed the test, not when a person became ill. (5/7)

I can tell you that when we look at the number of these cases by the day the swab was collected, instead of the day the lab tested the swab, we are seeing that our new daily numbers have remained relatively constant. (6/7)

Today, AHS has added a new measure - with few exceptions, hospitals will not have in-person visits - please visit virtually.

Thank you for doing your best to adjust to this new normal. We will get through this together (7/7)