Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw. (Government of Alberta)

By David Opinko

Not enough information to say if COVID-19 patients become immune

Jun 3, 2020 | 3:54 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health cannot say for sure if someone can contract COVID-19 multiple times.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw says health officials are continuing to study the virus, particularly around serological testing.

Once complete, these tests would detect the presence of antibodies in a person’s blood.

“Not all antibodies protect from reinfection and antibody levels can drop over time. Because of this, there is still not enough evidence to conclusively determine if a person who previously contracted COVID-19 would subsequently be immune.”

According to Dr. Hinshaw, the provincial laboratory is in the final stages of validating several types of serology tests.

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“Until we have this evidence, it will not be possible to determine who is immune or for how long.”

She cautioned against products that are marketed as home serology tests, as they may not be accurate and could produce false results.

Serology tests are not used to identify a current active COVID-19 case, but rather, a past infection.

Dr. Hinshaw also provided the daily COVID-19 update in Alberta for Wednesday, June 3.

Only 19 new infections were confirmed. 344 cases to date are still active while 6,587 patients have recovered.

48 people are currently hospitalized as a result of the virus, six of whom have been admitted to intensive care units (ICU).

Another two Albertans died from COVID-19, pushing the number up to 145.

In the past 24 hours, 4,997 tests for COVID-19 were conducted. To date, 271,298 have been completed.

The breakdown by regional health zone is as follows:

• Calgary zone – 4,909 cases, 255 active
  • 106 deaths
  • 31 in hospital, four in ICU
  • 115,996 tests
• South zone – 1,241 cases, 21 active
  • Nine deaths
  • Three in hospital, one in ICU
  • 19,305 tests
• Edmonton zone – 563 cases, 45 active
  • 13 deaths
  • 10 in hospital, one in ICU
  • 67,206 tests
• North zone – 252 cases, 22 active
  • 16 deaths
  • Four in hospital
  • 18,845 tests
• Central zone – 98 cases, zero active
  • One death
  • 19,246 tests

The breakdown for the South Health Zone by community is as follows:

• Brooks – 1,095 cases, five active, eight deaths
• Medicine Hat – 42 cases (one new), seven active
• Lethbridge – 28 cases (one new), one active
  • South Lethbridge – 13 cases (one new), one active
  • West Lethbridge – 12 cases, zero active
  • North Lethbridge – Three cases, zero active
• Cardston County – 25 cases (one new), two active
• Cypress County – 18 cases, seven active
• County of Newell – 15 cases, one active
• Fort Macleod – Five cases, zero active
• Special Areas No. 2 – Two cases, zero active, one death
• M.D. of Taber – Two cases, zero active
• County of Forty Mile – Two cases, zero active
• Lethbridge County – One case, zero active