Two COVID deaths this week in city
More outbreaks at local and area schools
Asecond death this week from COVID-19 has been recorded in Lethbridge, according to statistics from the past 24 hours released by Alberta Health. The two deaths this week has increased Lethbridge’s total to four since the pandemic began.
According to Alberta Heath, the latest death was a man in his 40s and was not linked to continuing care or an outbreak.
A gofundme page has been set up for Majd Yared, a Syrian refugee who came to Canada with his wife Elen and their two young daughters for a better and safer life.
According to the local gofundme page, Yared was diagnosed with COVID-19 in mid-October, became very ill and was admitted to the Chinook Regional Hospital ICU. He passed away on Tuesday.
Alberta recorded 477 new cases Thursday, giving the province 4,921 active cases. Of the total, there are 130 hospital, 18 of those in ICU, while there were five additional deaths for a total of 318 provincially.
The South Zone has 22 new cases for 256 active cases overall. There are five cases in hospital, with four of those in ICU. The latest death in Lethbridge brings the total in the South Zone to 29.
Of the new South Zone cases, 14 are in Lethbridge (155 active), with 330 recovered, up 15 from Wednesday.
The Holy Spirit Catholic School Division has been informed of two active cases of COVID-19, one at St. Catherine’s School in Picture Butte and the other is at Catholic Central High School, which is now considered an outbreak, since there are two or more confirmed cases.
The school division says that for both schools all close contacts have been informed of the situation and are required to isolate while following the directives provided by Alberta Health Services.
As of Thursday the school division says there are seven active cases across four school sites (Ecole St. Mary, St. Francis, Catholic Central High School and St. Catherine School in Picture Butte) requiring the isolation of approximately 120 staff and students.
Also on Thursday the Lethbridge School Division received notice that there is an outbreak at Gilbert Paterson Middle School, requiring the school to follow AHS direction and protocols.
To date, AHS has notified the division that there are two COVID-19 cases at Paterson. At this time, based on advice from Alberta Education, the school division says that Gilbert Paterson Middle School will remain open.
AHS has proceeded with defining close contacts of the two cases within the school context, and those individuals will be contacted by the school via email.
Those individuals will be required to quarantine immediately for the period defined by the close-contact letter.
There are three new cases each in Lethbridge County and Forty Mile, one each in Medicine Hat, Brooks and Special Area No. 2 (Fort Macleod adjusted down by one).