Premier Jason Kenney speaks on Wednesday's COVID-19 update. (Government of Alberta)

By David Opinko

117 new COVID-19 cases confirmed in Alberta in one day

Apr 1, 2020 | 3:46 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Government of Alberta is announcing a sharp rise in the number of people in the province who have contracted COVID-19.

Premier Jason Kenney and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw Dr. Deena Hinshaw gave updates for Wednesday, April 1.

The large increase is partially due to the province’s testing labs now being back up to full capacity and being able to tackle a backlog of tests. Over 4,500 tests were processed in the past 24 hours.

“That backlog had developed because of a temporary shortage of reagents and essential elements in the testing. We now have an adequate stock of those supplies,” says Kenney.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) expects to receive new rapid testing kits that will expand their processing capacity by thousands of tests per day.

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At this point, only two per cent of people who have been tested so far have been confirmed positive.

He says 871 Albertans have tested positive for the virus up until this point, 142 of which have fully recovered.

Dr. Hinshaw reports 94 cases of COVID-19 are from community transmission.

“Based on the trajectory of new cases in this province and the number of cases hospitalized, we’re confident we have the healthcare personnel and equipment that we need to cope with anticipated hospitalizations, including in intensive care units,” says Kenney.

Another two deaths were confirmed in the province. One was a man in his 80’s in the Calgary Health Zone the other was a man in his 80’s in the North Health Zone. Now, 11 Albertans have died from COVID-19.

• Calgary zone – 527 cases (6 deaths)
  • 21,119 tests
• Edmonton zone – 279 cases (three deaths)
  • 18,358 tests
• Central zone – 57 cases
  • 5,059 tests
• North zone – 51 cases ( two deaths)
  • 4,637 tests
• South zone – 12 cases
  • 2,561 tests
• Unknown – one case
  • 1,407 tests

The number of cases in the South Health Zone remains at 12, which is unchanged since last Thursday.

• Medicine Hat – five cases
• West Lethbridge – three cases
• South Lethbridge – two cases
• M.D. of Taber – two cases

Kenney announced that child care is being expanded for essential workers. More details here.

The full COVID-19 press conference for April 1 can be viewed below.