Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer, announced three more presumptive cases of coronavirus COVID-19 in Alberta on Sunday and another three were announced Monday..The fifth, sixth and seventh cases are from the Edmonton and Calgary zones and are close contacts to the previous cases. So far all cases in Alberta are related to travel..Hinshaw said that almost 1000 tests have been administered to close contacts over the past two days and Alberta’s tests no longer need to be confirmed at the national lab..“We are likely to be dealing with this for months to come,” Hinshaw said..“The global picture has changed and the risk (of exposure) is rising.”.She also reminded Albertans that COVID-19 is not airborne. Contraction of the virus comes from close contact to infected water droplets from a sneeze or cough. Hinshaw said washing hands and maintaining appropriate distance from others such as using an elbow bump rather than hand shaking..In a media availability on Sunday, Dr. Hinshaw addressed the previous case, in the Calgary Health Zone – which has been confirmed positive by the national lab – and a new case in the Edmonton Health zone. Both cases were linked to contact with passengers on the Grand Princess Cruise to Mexico in mid-February..The second and fourth cases were related to travel, the second case was with a person who had been in the Grand Princess cruise and the fourth case is close contact with someone who had traveled in Europe..Hinshaw said public health investigations into who may have been in contact with these individuals has already begun..“These individuals have been isolated and actions are being taken to prevent the infections from spreading,” Hinshaw said..“Given the global spread of COVID-19, it is likely that new cases will continue to be detected in the days ahead. While current risk exposure to the virus remains low in Alberta, this may change in the coming weeks.”.Hinshaw directed Albertans to the government of Alberta website for more information on protecting yourself and others from contracting the virus..There are now 72 cases in Canada and over 100,000 cases around the world..Deirdre Mitchell-MacLean is a Senior Reporter for Western Standard.dmaclean@westernstandardonline.com.@Mitchell_AB on Twitter
