Total deaths surpass 600 in Alberta

Province sees 1,836 COVID cases Sunday, 19 deaths as mayor seeks stronger steps

Within the span of a month, more than 250 people have died from COVID-19 in Alberta, as the province surpassed 600 total reported deaths on Sunday.

The province added an additional 1,836 new cases, bringing the total to 19,484. The majority of cases remain in the Edmonton and Calgary Zones with 8,963 and 7,288, respectively.

Nineteen additional deaths bring the province's total to 615.

Eight of the 19 are linked to an outbreak at the Capitalcare Lynnwood in Edmonton. Two individual deaths were linked to outbreaks at Shepherds Care Vanguard and Mactaggart Place Retirement Residence.

Roughly two weeks ago, the province reported 506 deaths on Nov. 23, which was only a few days after Alberta reached more than 400 deaths on Nov. 11.

Alberta's first death related to the virus was on March 18. The average age of the victims is 83-years-old. Alberta's chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw tweeted her sympathies to those who lost loved ones.

“The most important action you can take right now is to stay home if you feel unwell, even if it's just a slight sore throat or runny nose,” she said. “Deciding to stay home when sick is a simple yet impactful decision that limits the spread of the virus.”

Hinshaw is anticipated to provide an update on Monday.

More than 600 people are now in hospital with 100 in intensive care. On Nov. 5, 161 people were in hospital with 33 in intensive care.

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson tweeted that it was distressing and heartbreaking to see case numbers and deaths continue to climb.

“In addition to increasing municipal enforcement of public health rules, I continue to press (the Alberta government) to take stronger steps to reduce transmission,” he said.

“And early next week (Edmonton city council) will look at further measures we can use in our fight against (COVID-19).”

Iveson said he continues to believe a regional approach is the best way to effectively tackle the spread of the virus but added the city is exploring all options to protect Edmontonians.

The province completed roughly 23,400 tests on Saturday, bringing the total number of people tested to more than 1.5 million.

Other parts of the province are also seeing a rise in cases including Central Zone with 1,391, South Zone with 642 and North Zone at 1,087. There are currently 113 cases that are unknown.

Monday marks 13 days since Premier Jason Kenney declared a public health emergency and brought in more drastic measures in an attempt to reduce the rate of transmission.

Kenney said dropping the R-value, which refers to how fast the virus spreads, below one is the “absolute minimum metric goal” that has to be achieved in the province by Dec. 15.

Across Canada, there are 73,379 active cases and 12,665 deaths related to COVID-19 as of Sunday.