The number of active COVID-19 cases in Red Deer and other parts of the central zone increased Monday.
Alberta reported 426 new COVID-19 cases Monday. The figures include cases from the weekend: 133 on Friday, 184 on Saturday and 109 on Sunday.
Two more deaths have been confirmed due to the virus: one in the Edmonton zone and another in the north zone.
Forty-four people are in hospital, the province said Monday, eight of whom are in intensive care.
On Monday, Alberta had 1,370 active cases, up from Friday’s 1,185.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the chief medical officer of health, said the goal is to keep daily case numbers low, avoid outbreaks and manage them carefully when they occur.
“Our case numbers over the past three days raise concerns, and we will be looking closely at the new numbers to determine if any additional steps need to be taken,” she said.
The central zone was at 27 active cases Monday, up from Friday’s 21. To date, the zone has reported seven virus-related deaths. On Monday, one person was in hospital in the local zone with the virus.
To date, the central zone has confirmed 588 COVID-19 cases, with 554 recovered.
The City of Red Deer is up to seven cases, up from Friday’s five. There are 74 recovered cases in the city.
The City of Lacombe is at one active, while Lacombe County is at two active.
Red Deer County is also at two active cases.
Mountain View County is at one active – the same as the Town of Olds.
The City of Wetaskiwin is at three active cases, while Wetaskiwin County is at two active cases.
Ponoka County has no active cases – the same as the Town of Sylvan Lake.
Regarding a masking mandate, Hinshaw said the majority of new cases are in Edmonton and Calgary, and they already have mandatory mask rules.
“I think what we need to do is look at the trends and see what kind of exposures are linked to those cases – that may help us understand better what, if anything, we need to change.”
The Calgary zone has 590 active cases, with 13 people in hospital and two in intensive care. There have been 118 deaths confirmed in the zone.
The Edmonton zone reported 551 active cases Monday, with 20 in hospital and four in intensive care. There have been 61 deaths reported in this zone.
The south zone was at 24 active cases, with one person in hospital in the intensive care. To date, the zone has reported 24 virus deaths.
The north zone had 174 active cases, with nine people in hospital and one person in intensive care. Twenty-nine people have died in this zone with the virus.
Alberta labs have now performed 967,083 tests on 767,296 Albertans.
mamta.lulla@reddeeradvocate.com
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