During the August 10th COVID-19 Update, Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw noted that there will be some changes made to the Local Geographic Area Map. They will be renaming certain areas to avoid confusion with the data being displayed.

“Our officials are reviewing the map and renaming Viking, Wainright and any other affected areas to make it clear that it is regional data and that that cases are not all affecting one community,” said Dr. Hinshaw.

Additionally, the Chief Medical Officer of Health is hoping to improve the wait-times for the results of COVID-19 testing so that people can have their results sooner.

“Currently the average turnaround time for a positive test result to notification is two days and this is too long. We have put some measures in place and are working on more to reduce this wait time to speed up other components of the testing process in the coming weeks,” explained Dr. Hinshaw.

As students and parents prepare for school, Dr. Hinshaw is recommending that families with school age children reduce the size of their cohort in order to mitigate the spread of the virus if need be.

The doctor provided some information about mask usage and recommends storing clean masks in a clean plastic bag. When the masks are soiled either by long usage or wet from breath she says it is time to consider washing them. For masks that are lightly used and removed with clean hands, you may store them in a different clean plastic bag and use once more.

The doctor recommends making a habit of proper mask usage as she anticipates that we will be dealing with the virus for some time to come.

New case numbers as of August 10th, 2020:

  • 101 new cases have been identified on August 8th
  • 48 new cases have been identified on August 9th
  • 1,090 active cases in Alberta
  • 66 people are hospitalized with COVID-19
  • 14 people are currently in ICUs
  • 10,384 total recovered cases
  • 213 total deaths from the virus 
  • 5 new deaths from the virus
  • 770,266 tests have been performed in total  (about 1 in 7 Albertans have now been tested at some point)

Active case numbers for Central Alberta:

  • 4 active cases in Lacombe County
  • 2 active case in the City of Lacombe
  • 12 active cases in the City of Red Deer
  • 3 active cases in Red Deer County
  • 1 active cases in Ponoka County
  • 0 active cases in the Town of Sylvan Lake
  • 0 active cases in the Town of Olds
  • 6 active cases in Stettler County
  • 1 active case in Mountain View County

*Not all cases in the Central Zone have been included.

To view the geospatial map of Alberta, click here.