Church outbreak tied to 99 cases; province sees 127 new infections

City remains on provincial watchlist with a case rate of 54.5 per 100,000

Ninety-nine cases are now linked to a COVID -19 outbreak at a north Edmonton church, Alberta Health told Postmedia Wednesday.

Seventy-nine active cases, along with 20 recovered, are connected to the Bible Pentecostal Church at 13054 112 St. Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said last week the outbreak was tied to religious services between July 26 and Aug. 12. No one from the church was available for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Another 127 cases of COVID-19 were reported in Alberta Wednesday and no additional deaths, according to the latest provincial data. Hinshaw did not provide an update.

There are 17 more active cases in the Edmonton Zone, bringing the total to 625, the highest of any provincial zone, and more than 50 per cent of the 1,176 active cases in Alberta.

Twenty-two more active cases are reported in the Calgary Zone, which has 362 active cases.

There have been 235 fatalities since the pandemic began, with 59 in Edmonton, and a total of 13,210 cases in Alberta. Forty-eight people are in hospital, including seven in intensive care. The province has run 912,302 tests.

Currently, there are outbreaks at 12 long-term, acute-care and supportive-living homes in Edmonton.

The province revealed Tuesday there were outbreaks at five additional care homes, including a second outbreak at Shepherd’s Care Kensington Village where four staff had tested positive, and at Shepherd’s Care Vanguard with two positive cases among staff. Kensington Village was previously the site of a deadly outbreak earlier this year, killing four residents, with a total of 36 people acquiring the disease.

No additional cases or deaths have been reported in the Good Samaritan Southgate outbreak where 31 people have died and 112 cases have been reported — the deadliest outbreak in the province.

According to Alberta Health Services, there are two cases linked to the outbreak at Grey Nuns Community Hospital. Other outbreaks include Capital Care Dickinsfield (4), Extendicare Eaux Claires (2), Hardisty Care Centre (3), Catholic Social Services St. Rita (3), ICE Southridge Group Home (5),

Lifestyle Options Schonsee Retirement Community (9), Salvation Army Grace Manor (2), and Tralee Residential Services (11), according to data provided by Alberta Health Wednesday.

There are also outbreaks linked to Royal Food Products in Edmonton, private gatherings in Spruce Grove and Edmonton, and Imperial Oil in Strathcona County.

The city of Edmonton continued to be listed on the province’s watchlist Wednesday with a case rate of 54.5 per 100,000, and 557 cases within municipal limits.

Edmonton Northgate has the highest case rate of any region in the city with a case rate of 140.8 per 100,000 and 116 active cases. It’s followed by Castle Downs with 93.6 per 100,000 and 66 cases.

Across Canada, 9,094 people have died from COVID-19, and there have been 126,417 cases. The World Health Organization has reported 23.7 million cases including 815,038 deaths.