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

By David Opinko

103 new COVID-19 cases confirmed in South Health Zone in one day

Apr 22, 2020 | 3:53 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Government of Alberta is reporting another large increase in COVID-19 infections in the South Health Zone, mainly in Brooks.

Provincially, another 306 infections were announced Wednesday, bringing the total to 3,401.

While 70 people remain in hospital and 18 in intensive care units, 1,310 patients have fully recovered.

While the numbers might not appear to be positive, Premier Jason Kenney says Albertans overall have done a great job at following the rules and advice of public health officials and ensuring things did not get worse than they could have.

At the same time, he believes now is not the time to let up.

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“I know that people are getting increasingly impatient, but for us simply to imagine that if we were to reopen everything today and the numbers would stay where they are now, [that] has absolutely no basis in the science of epidemiology or the experience of this particular virus.”

“If we let the virus loose, we would lose the value of all of the sacrifices that we have made to date and we would simply have to shut down even more of our economy, more harshly, and probably for a longer period of time, causing even more damage.”

An additional five deaths were confirmed, meaning COVID-19 has now claimed the lives of 66 Albertans.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw says they are investigating two recent deaths in Brooks.

“One of these individuals was a worker at the JBS plant site. While we do not know if these two deaths were COVID-related, I want it to be clear that investigations are underway to determine that.”

If either of these deaths in Brooks turns out to be the result of the virus, they would be the first COVID-19 deaths in the South Health Zone.

96 cases in Brooks are linked to the JBS meatpacking plant, while that is the case for 440 at Cargill’s facility in High River.

Elsewhere in Alberta, the first infection in a First Nation has been confirmed. It was at the Sucker Creek First Nation between High Prairie and Slave Lake.

113,499 tests have been completed to date at an average of 2,164 tests per day.

The breakdown of cases by regional health zone is as follows:

• Calgary zone – 2,396 cases, 42 deaths (one new)
  • 47,504 tests
• Edmonton zone – 451 cases, nine deaths
  • 34,629 tests
• South zone – 303 cases
  • 5,837 tests
• North zone – 150 cases, 14 deaths (four new)
  • 8,779 tests
• Central zone – 79 cases, one death
  • 9,961 tests

For the South Health Zone, the breakdown is as follows:

• Brooks – 257 cases (100 new)
• Medicine Hat – 19 cases (three new), 10 recovered
• Lethbridge – 12 cases, eight recovered
  • West Lethbridge – seven cases, five recovered
  • South Lethbridge – five cases, three recovered
• Cypress County – eight cases, one recovered
• M.D. of Taber – two cases, two recovered
• County of Forty Mile – two cases, two recovered
• County of Newell – one case