According to the latest statistics from the province, one person in the City of Airdrie has passed away from COVID-19.

In addition to the reported death in Airdrie, Dr. Deena Hinshaw announced eight other deaths in Alberta on Monday. No specific details were provided in the daily update and the online statistics that show gender and age group are broken down by zone only. The City of Airdrie is in the Calgary zone, which has seen a total of 70 COVID-19 deaths so far.

"Four of the nine deaths reported today occurred within the last 24 hours. The others occurred in previous days or weeks," says Hinshaw. "Sometimes it takes time to confirm a death was related to COVID-19."

COVID-19 has now claimed a total of 104 lives in the province, which Hinshaw described as a "somber milestone".

"As the number of deaths in our province increases, so does the number of grieving families and loved ones," says Hinshaw. "To everyone who is feeling the pain of losing someone to this virus, I extend my sincere condolences."

On Sunday, Airdrie's stats showed 19 active and 19 recovered cases, for a total of 38. On Monday, there are 16 active cases, 20 recovered, and one death for a total of 37. Rocky View County has nine active cases and 28 recovered.

The province has declared outbreaks at the Amazon fulfillment centre in Balzac and the Harmony Beef meat packing facility in Rocky View County.

Province-wide, there has been 5,836 total cases of COVID-19 reported to date, an increase of 70 since Sunday. 2,942 have recovered.

Hinshaw says based on new and emerging information on the virus, testing in Alberta will be expanded to include anyone with the following symptoms:

  • fever
  • chills
  • a new cough or worsening of a chronic cough
  • new or worsening shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
  • sore throat or painful swallowing
  • stuffy or runny nose
  • headaches
  • muscle or joint aches
  • feeling unwell in general
  • new fatigue or severe exhaustion
  • gastrointestinal symptoms - nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, unexplained loss of appetite
  • loss of sense of smell or taste
  • conjunctivitis (pink eye)

"Adding these new symptoms will allow us to be more confident that we can identify as early as possible the small percentage of cases that may present with more unusual symptoms," says Hinshaw.

Testing will also be expanded to include all close contacts of confirmed cases whether or not they are showing symptoms. Close contacts of confirmed cases will also need to self-isolate for 14 days whether they test positive for COVID-19 or not.

 

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