The County of Grande Prairie now has a second confirmed case of COVID-19. That pushes the total for the Grande Prairie region, including the City of Grande Prairie, to four. Both cases in the City of Grande Prairie have recovered.
Across the province, 98 new positive cases were confirmed on Monday, bringing the total across Alberta to 1,348. There are 89 in the North zone.
In the Municipal District of Greenview, including Valleyview, there is one active case and one recovered. Big Lakes County has 10 active cases, four recoveries, and one death, while the Municipal District of Smoky River has 19 active cases, one recovery, and two deaths.
Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw says another death has also been reported, a woman in her 80s in the Calgary zone. She is the 11th death linked to a single continuing care home in Calgary. There are now 24 total deaths linked to COVID-19 in Alberta.
Dr. Hinshaw adds the province is expanding the parameters used to test people. Starting April 7th, anyone over the age of 65 who has a fever, cough, shortness of breath, runny nose, or a sore throat will be tested.
“Knowing that older Albertans are at increased risk of complications if they’re infected with COVID-19, we are expanding testing access to enable early detection of infection in this group of people,” she adds.
Testing in the province will also be expanded to include people with symptoms who work in group homes and shelters and first responders like police and firefighters.
A total of 361 people have now recovered from COVID-19 in Alberta. 65,914 tests have been done.
Premier Jason Kenney will speak directly to Albertans on Tuesday evening when it’s expected he will provide some of the modelling done by Alberta Health Services. That could offer insight into when the peak of COVID-19 will be, and if the province is prepared.