Province reports 84 new cases, one death

Woman in her 60s latest COVID death as province records 84 new cases

A total of 84 COVID-19 cases and one related death were reported in Alberta Friday.

A woman in her 60s in the south zone is the latest death announced by the province. Her death is not related to any continuing-care facility, said Alberta Health spokesman Tom Mcmillan.

The woman’s death brings the total number of fatalities in the province to 221 since the pandemic began.

The Good Samaritan Society’s website showed no new deaths at the Southgate Care Centre Friday and Alberta Health Services (AHS) announced the Misericordia will begin reopening to new patients.

The Misericordia declared a full facility outbreak on June 8, meaning no new patients would be entering the facility and day procedures were postponed or moved to other hospitals. The declaration came at a time when 20 patients and 15 staff members at the hospital tested positive for COVID -19. There were three related deaths at the time.

AHS announced the Misericordia would reopen the emergency department and labour and delivery services Friday. Ambulatory appointments and surgical services will begin during a phased reopening. A news release issued by AHS Friday said there have been no new cases at the facility since July 17 and the outbreak is now officially declared over.

There was a total of 58 cases related to the outbreak, including 31 patients, two visitors and 25 staff.

A total of 11 patients died.

“Early in the outbreak at the Misericordia, we took significant measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the safety of patients, staff, physicians, and volunteers,” said Dr. David Zygun, medical director of AHS Edmonton Zone in the release. “With an abundance of caution, and nearly a month without a new case linked to the initial outbreak, we are confident the site is ready to begin accepting incoming patients to a safe environment of care.”

The Alberta Health website shows there are currently 11 outbreaks in the Edmonton Zone. There are three at long-term care centres, including Extendicare Eaux Claires and Miller Crossing Care Centre.

The 84 new cases announced Friday bring the total number of active cases in Alberta to 1,036. The Edmonton Zone continues to have the highest number of those cases, with 497. Calgary follows with 305 cases and northern Alberta has 103.

Central and southern Alberta have 81 and 45 cases, respectively. There are five cases with an unknown location.

There have been 12,053 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Alberta since the beginning of the pandemic, with 10,796 having recovered.

A total of 48 people are in Alberta hospitals with COVID-19, 13 of whom are in intensive care.

Provincial labs have completed 801,360 tests on 652,819 people.

There have been 121,234 cases of COVID-19 and 9,015 deaths across the country, according to the latest numbers from Health Canada.