Greetings all,

This is the latest update as of May 20th compiled by Linda Toews, District 5 Director with her note above it.

CURRENT SITUATION UPDATE – MAY 20, 2020

I have combined information from press conferences, news releases and other sources from Friday through today. Anything in green is an update on something from the last one I sent out or on an outbreak. Anything in bold and italics are my comments.

 If you would like to see anything that I sent out previously, or have a question on a particular topic, please ask me and I will be pleased to send to you whatever I have.

 If anyone has anything helpful to add, please send it to me and I will include it. Linda

• Potential Treatments
• Around the World
• Canada
• Other Provinces
• Alberta
• Good News Stories

POTENTIAL TREATMENTS/TESTS

–WORLD NEWS–

World wide  5,090,061 cases; 329,7632 deaths;  2,024,222 recoveries

Just to keep this in perspective:

• flu affects 1 billion people and causes 291,000 to 646,000 deaths worldwide (source: Johns Hopkins Medicine)
• The Spanish flu affected 1/3 of the people in the world at the time and killed between 50-100 million people.

 

Around the World

COVID-19 affects 213 countries and territories around the world.

Brazil

• Brazil has 293,357 cases and 18,894 deaths, 116,683 have recovered.
• Coronavirus is spreading more quickly in Brazil than in any other country in the world, and is continuing to climb.
• It is now 3rd highest in cases, more than only US and Russia.

Belgium

• Belgium has 56,507 cases and 6,090 deaths with 38,876 recoveries.
• Because of its small population, Belgium holds the number 1 spot for highest deaths per million – 790 per million. 

Britain

• Britain now has 248,293 cases and 35,704 deaths. There is no information on recoveries.
• UK has slipped to the 5^th highest in cases but is still the 2^nd highest in deaths.
• UK is the 4th highest in deaths per million people – 526 per million, behind  Belgium, Spain and Italy.

France

• France has 181,575 cases and 28,132 deaths, 63,354 people have recovered.
• France has the number 5 spot in deaths per million – 431 per million 

Germany

• Germany has 178,531 cases with 8,270 deaths, 156,900 people have recovered.

India

• India has 106,750 cases, with 3,303 deaths and 42,309 recoveries
• India recorded its largest single-day surge on Monday due to migrant workers returning home after losing their jobs in India’s population centres. There were 5,242 new cases and 157 deaths recorded.

Italy

• Italy is now reporting 227,364 cases and 32,330 deaths, 132,282 people have recovered.
• Italy is third in deaths per million people – 535 per million, behind only Belgium and Spain.

Mexico

• Mexico has 56,594 cases (an increase of 2,248 today), 6,090 deaths (an increase of 424 today) and 38,876 recoveries

Pakistan

• Pakistan has 48,091 cases – a daily increase of  2,193 – with 1,017 deaths and 14,155 recoveries.

Russia

• Russia’s cases continue to climb. Now second in cases behind only the US, Russia has 308,705 cases, 2,972 deaths and 85,392 are reported as recovered. Updated numbers have not been posted for today.

Spain

• Spain is reporting 279,524 cases and 27,888 deaths, 196,958 people have recovered.
• Spain has slipped to the 4th highest in cases behind the US, Russia and Brazil, and 5^th in deaths behind US, UK, Italy, and France.
• However, Spain is the 2^nd  highest in deaths per million population – 596 per million people, behind only Belgium. 

United States

• The US now has 1,593,039 cases and 94,841 deaths, 370,812 have recovered.
• US deaths are 287 per million people, 6^th behind Belgium, Spain, Italy, UK, and France.

  

Canada 

Confirmed cases         80,091

Probable cases                    11

Deaths                          6,030

Recoveries                  40,342

No. of Tests:          1,375,126

Areas in Canada with cases of COVID-19 as of MAY 20, 5:00 pm MDT

 

Province, territory or other                    Confirmed        Probable       Deaths   Recovered 

British Columbia                                       2,467                   0             149           1,975

Alberta                                                      6,716                   0             128           5,584

Saskatchewan                                              599                   0                 6              470

Manitoba                                                     279                   0                 7              257

Ontario                                                    23,774                   0          1,962         18,190

Quebec                                                    44,775                   0          3,718         12,497

New Brunswick                                            120                   0                 0              120

Nova Scotia                                               1,045                   0               57              956

Prince Edward Island                                     27                   0                 0                27

Newfoundland and Labrador                       260                   0                 3              250

Yukon                                                             11                   0                 0                11

Northwest Territories                                      5                   0                 0                  5

Nunavut                                                            0                   0                 0                  0

Repatriated travellers                                  13                   0                 0     Unknown

Up-to-date information is available at Canada.ca/COVID-19

 

— Canadian News–

Prime Minister Trudeau Announcements 

Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Program

            Prime Minister Trudeau announced this morning in his daily press conference that there would be a Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Program where the landlord of small or medium businesses would apply for the relief. The federal government will pay 50% of the rent, and the landlord and tenant each pay 25%.

More on Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF)

            Announced last week, the LEEFF program is particularly aimed at airlines and oil and gas companies and is designed for distressed companies wit hat least $300 million in annual revenue. The minimum loan size will be $60 million and there is no stated maximum loan size.

            The program offers the government’s help as a lender of last resort to companies unable to obtain private financing that would be at r4isk of falling into bankruptcy due to the pandemic. Unsecured loans will be offered at 5% per year, rising to 8% in the second year and increasing by 2% a year thereafter. The company must provide the government with the option to purchase common shares through a stock warrant, or receive cash equivalents, equal to 15% of the principal amount of the loan. The government could also appoint an observer tro the corporate board of a company receiving a loan. Any company securing a loan must agree not to pay its executives more than $1million.  

–Other Canadian News –

Provinces

Alberta

 MAY 20, 2020, 5:15 p.m.

 –Major announcements–

Premier Jason Kenney

Strengthening International Borders

Premier Jason Kenney announced today that Alberta will be implementing new screening measures for international travellers, effective immediately.

At Calgary and Edmonton International Airports, travellers will have to pass a provincial checkpoint where they will undergo a temperature check and must provide a self-isolation plan for 14 days. They will have to advise where they will self-isolate, how they will get there, and who will be providing them with food and medications, and any other support required. Anyone who cannot meet the requirements will be quarantined on site or put up in a hotel.  This screening will occur after travellers have cleared customs and screening by Canada Border Services Agency.

Airports will also implement enhanced cleaning protocols for arrival lounges and high-touch surfaces, and place hand sanitizer stations at every kiosk and touch screen machine.

Similar screening measures will be set up at the Coutts border crossing where 90% of land travellers enter Alberta. The provincial checkpoint will be located just north of the CBSA screening area.

Members of Alberta Health Services will conduct the screening. Anyone who fails the initial thermal scan will be required to have a second temperature check with a touchless thermometer, according to Dr. Deena Hinshaw. Anyone found to have any of the key symptoms of COVID will be quarantined if they can’t get home or to isolation without potentially exposing anyone else.

Within 3 days of returning to Alberta, all international travellers will receive a follow-u call from a provincial official to ensure they have everything they need to self-isolate for 2 weeks. The Premier said that “countries like Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea have been successful at mitigating the spread because they took immediate action securing their borders …” He reiterated his position that “it was irresponsible for Canada to wait so long to close our borders, especially from countries with high levels of infection.”

The program will run through August 31 and cost about $800,000, including funding for hotel rooms. The measure is designed to protect Albertans from further spread from international travellers.

 

Access to Justice

• The Provincial Court of Alberta has updated its plan for the staged resumption of court operations. The changes involve family mediation; the rescheduling and adjournment of provincial tickets, bylaws and other matters; and criminal adult out-of-custody criminal trials and preliminary inquiries.
• More information: https://albertacourts.ca/pc/resources/announcements

 

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw

 Case updates

Dr. Deena Hinshaw will no longer be conducting daily press conferences. The next one is Thursday. Next week will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Today there were only 19 new cases reported. There are now 970 active cases in the province and 5,637 people have recovered. There was one new death, a man in his 70s living in Extendicare Hillcrest. A death previously reported at Extendicare Hillcrest was determined NOT to be due to COVID so the total deaths remain the same at 128. 58 people are in hospital with 7 in intensive care.

Latest updates

 19 new cases have been reported, bringing the number of active cases to 970. 5,637 people have recovered.

• Cases have been identified in all zones across the province:
  • 784 active cases and 3,773 recovered cases in the Calgary zone
  • 99 active cases and 1,105 recovered cases in the South zone
  • 59 active cases and 450 recovered cases in the Edmonton zone
  • 18 active cases and 197 recovered cases in the North zone
  • 6 active cases and 92 recovered cases in the Central zone
  • 4 active cases and 20 recovered cases in zones yet to be confirmed
  • Additional information, including the total number of cases, is reported online.
• There have been 624 cases to date with an unknown exposure.
• The total deaths are 128: 92 in the Calgary zone; 15 in the North zone; 12 in the Edmonton zone; 8 in the South zone; and one in the Central zone.
• There are 89 active cases and 607 recovered cases at continuing care facilities. 94 residents at these facilities have died.
• So far, 203,397 Albertans have been tested and labs have performed 221,571 tests, with 2,607 tests completed in the last 24 hours.
• Any individual exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, including cough, fever, runny nose, sore throat or shortness of breath, is eligible for testing. People can access testing by completing the COVID-19 self-assessment online. A separate self-assessment tool is available for health-care and shelter workers, enforcement and first responders.
• Aggregate data, showing cases by age range and zone, as well as by local geographic areas, is available online at alberta.ca/covid19statistics.

  (Central zone and areas around Calgary includes:

Ponoka County – 3 cases, 1 active, 0 deaths, 2 recovered

City of Camrose – 2 cases, 0 active, 1 death, 1 recovered

County of Camrose – 1 cases, 0 active, 0 deaths, 1 recovered

Red Deer – 37 cases; 2 active, 0 deaths, 35 recovered

City of Lacombe – 2 cases, 0 active, 0 deaths, 2 recovered

County of Lacombe – 3 cases; 0 active, 0 deaths; 3 recovered

Clearwater County – 3 cases, 1 active, 0 death; 2 recovered

County of Stettler – 3 cases, 0 active, 0 death; 3 recovered

Red Deer County – 16 cases, 1 active, 0 deaths, 15 recovered

Clearwater County – 2 cases; 1 active, 0 deaths; 2 recovered

Mountain View County – 9 cases, 2 active, 0 deaths, 7 recovered

Kneehill County – 4 cases, 1 active, 0 deaths; 3 recovered

MD of Bighorn – 18 cases; 1 active, 0 deaths; 17 recovered

MD of Rockyview – 43 cases; 7 active, 0 deaths; 36 recovered

Wheatland County – 9 cases; 1 active, 0 deaths; 8recovered

ID No. 9 (Banff & Canmore) – 4 cases; 1 active, 0 deaths; 3 recovered

Foothills County – 728 cases, 26 active, 8 deaths; 694 recovered

City of Airdrie – 47 cases, 7 active, 1 deaths, 39 recovered

City of Calgary – 3749 cases;  728 active, 83 deaths; 2938 recovered

City of Brooks – 1090 cases, 65 active, 7 deaths, 1018 recovered

County of Newell – 14 cases, 2 active, 0 deaths; 12 recovered

Special Areas No. 2 – 2 cases; 0 active, 1 death; 1 recovered

 I am including smaller towns within counties, where I can get the information.  The total of each smaller town is also included in the country total. If there is a town I have not included that you would like to see, please let me know and I will see if I can get that info. Sometimes more than 1 town is lumped in together or not separated from the county figures – for example,  Penhold, Blackfalds and the area around Red Deer is included in Red Deer County figures.

 Black Diamond – 29 cases, 3 active, 0 deaths, 26 recovered

Canmore – 18 cases, 1 active, 0 deaths, 17 recovered

Cochrane-Springbank – 20 cases, 3 active, 0 deaths, 17 recovered

Crossfield – 6 cases, 1 active, 0 deaths, 5 recovered

Chestermere – 32 cases, 7 active, 0 deaths, 25 recovered

Didsbury/Carstairs – 5 cases,1 active, 0 deaths, 4 recovered

Drumheller – 2 cases, 2 active

High River – 538 cases, 16 active, 7 deaths, 515 recovered

Innisfail/Bowden – 1 case, 0 active, 0 deaths, 1 recovered

Okotoks – Priddis – 164 cases, 9 active, 1 deaths, 154 recovered

Olds – 3 cases, 0 active, 0 deaths, 3 recovered

Rocky Mountain House – 1 cases, 0 active, 0 deaths, 1 recovered

Strathmore – 22 cases, 4 active, 0 deaths, 18 recovered

Sundre – 2 case, 1active, 0 deaths, 1 recovered

Sylvan Lake – 3 cases, 0 active; 0 deaths; 3 recovered

Three Hills / Highway 21 – 4 cases, 1 active, 0 deaths, 3 recovered

 

OUTBREAK SITES

• Outbreak = 2 or more cases which indicates community spread in the facility. Congregate sites are required to report even 1 possible case. Outbreak is declared over when 4 weeks have passed with no new cases.

• Long-term care and supported living facilities with COVID-19 cases:   I have included the information from the Alberta government website plus information from other sources.
• If a site is no longer on the list it is because there have been no new cases for four  weeks.
• There are now 105 active cases and 559 recovered cases in continuing care facilities, and 83 have died.
  • Academy of Aging, Calgary
  • AgeCare Sunrise Gardens, Brooks
  • Bethany Care Centre, Calgary seniors home in the NW has confirmed 2 cases; one is a resident and 1 a staff member. The resident has since died.
  • Bethany Riverview, Calgary has confirmed 1 staff member has tested positive.
  • Bow View Manor, Calgary – this site was declared outbreak free, then another case occurred in a staff member acquired outside of the facility. There are no cases in other staff members or residents.
  • Carewest Sarcee, Calgary has 12 cases and 2 deaths.
  • Clifton Manor, Calgary, now has 27 confirmed cases among residents and 18 in staff for a total of 45 cases, and 7 deaths;  13 residents and 12 staff have recovered.
  • Hillcrest Extendicare, Calgary, 2 deaths
  • High River Long term Care (in High River Hospital) – 2 deaths
  • , 2 deaths.
  • Intercare  Chinook Care Centre, Calgary
  • JB Wood Continuing Care, High Prairie, 4 deaths
  • Journey Club, Calgary
  • Kensington Village – Shepherd’s Care
  • Manoir du Lac Retirement Home in McLennan. The last numbers were 38 confirmed cases and 7 deaths.
  • McKenzie Towne Long Term Care, Calgary, 114 confirmed cases, 20 deaths. A new positive case was identified.
  • Millrise Place, Calgary
  • Monterey Seniors Village, Calgary
  • Proverbium 3 Homes Inc., Calgary
  • Providence Care Centre, Calgary
  • Sunrise Gardens, Brooks
  • Wentworth Manor, Calgary, has 2 cases in staff

 Other outbreak sites:

• Amazon Distribution Centre, Balzac
• APS Calgary
• Calgary Alpha House – 10 cases, 5 recovered
• Calgary Drop-in Rehab Centre Society, Calgary – 10 cases, 2 recovered
• Calgary Refrigerated Warehouse, Calgary
• Canada Post, Calgary
• Cargill Meat Processing Plant/High River– 6 active cases ,  943 have recovered, 2 deaths.
• Cascade Recovery+, Calgary, 14 cases
• Fibrebuilt Manufacturing, Calagry
• Flyers force, Calgary
• Golden Happiness Bakery
• Harmony Beef – Meat packing, Rocky View County – 10 active and 30 have recovered
• Horizon Work Camp, Fort McMurray -5 cases
• JBS Foods/Brooks – 11 active cases, 638 have recovered, 1 death.
• Kearl Lake work camp north of Fort McMurray – there have now been 107 cases over a 6 week period.  Strict measures are in place which has reduced further spread.
• McDonalds, Brooks
• Midtown Co-op, Calgary
• Purolator, Calgary – 59 employees, 5 have recovered so far
• Terashita’s No Frills, Brooks
• Subaru, Calgary
• Thomas Fresh, Calgary 

Aggressive measures are being implemented in all outbreaks and they are affective.  AHS and Public Health has learned from the earlier outbreaks and is putting aggressive measures in place immediately an outbreak is identified. Exposures that happened before measures put in place can continue to happen for up to 2 weeks because of the long incubation period.

 

Supporting Alberta businesses through relaunch

A new Alberta Biz Connect web page provides business owners with information on health and safety guidelines for general workplaces and sector-specific guidelines for those able to open in stage one of relaunch to ensure businesses can reopen safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is also a template which can be completed to help plan how employees an patrons will be protected from the spread of infection.

For more information, visit alberta.ca/BizConnect

 

ABTraceTogether app

• The ABTraceTogether app will enhance current manual contact tracing and capacity, and facilitate early detection to help reduce the spread of the virus and better protect Albertans. It means Albertans will be contacted more quickly if they are at risk.
• Use of the app is voluntary; users must opt in.
• The app does not track the user’s physical location and does not use GPS. Protecting privacy is paramount; all contact data is only on the user’s phone and is deleted after 21 days.
• Secure contact tracing is a cornerstone of Alberta’s Relaunch Strategy. More information on the app, including links to download it, can be found online.
• Since its launch, the app has attracted 181,037 registered users.–OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS –

   Twinning of Ray Gibbon Drive in St. Albert

  The government has committed more than $27 million for the expansion which will support more than 150 jobs for Albertans.

  The $54.2 million project will be share 50-50 between the Government of Alberta and the City of Alberta. More than 20,000 vehicles a day travel Ray Gibbon Drive which connects St. Albert with Anthony Henday Drive, the Yellowhead Highway and the City of Edmonton.

   

  JBS Beef in Brooks to Restart Second Shift

  The JBS Beef Processing plant in Brooks is planning to return to two shifts a day on Thursday for the first time in a month. The company has implemented more than 100 safety measures at the plant since January, including temperature tests of all workers entering the plant, providing and requiring face masks, and physical partitions on production lines.