Active reported cases of COVID-19 increases to 69 in eastern portion of Beaver County; region placed on watch list
An outbreak of 79 cases of COVID-19 overall in Beaver County has increased local concerns about the increasing spread of the virus. Of that, there were 71 active and eight recovered, as of Friday, July 31.
Beaver County’s statistics can be broken up into two regions: Viking and area in the east and Tofield and area in the west.
Statistics released Friday for the previous day by Alberta Health Services show 69 active cases in the Viking area in the eastern half of the county with three other cases recovered for a total of 72. The Tofield area in the western half of the county has two active cases, and five recovered, for a total of seven.
The numbers of COVID-19 cases have been increasing all week in the Viking region, with 66 cases listed on Thursday and 34 cases listed on Wednesday.
Beaver County issued the following statement after being informed that the county is now under a watch list (although the Alberta interactive map just shows the eastern half of the county under this watch when filtered by local geographic area);
“Alberta Health Services has assured us that all the cases, both the ones in the past, and now the most recent ones, are from a known source, and everyone involved is cooperating with Alberta Health Services to prevent further spread. The general population in the Beaver County Region is not at risk.
“Please do your part to stop the spread by following all the guidelines of Alberta Health Services, including maintaining a distance of at least 2 metres between yourself and others, washing or sanitizing your hands, and wearing a mask in public places.”
It has been widely speculated the outbreak is related to one or more hutterite colonies in the area, but that has not been confirmed publicly by Alberta Health Services. Many advocates have warned against discrimination, however, as the virus can affect anyone and those afflicted colonies from Alberta to Manitoba are taking necessary precautions to limit the spread to nearby communities.
Viking Mayor Jason Ritchie pointed out that the fact Viking is listed as the location on the interpretive AHS map in the eastern part of the county is misleading. Ritchie said that reference is to a regional area that includes Viking.
But unlike Beaver County, which was contacted by Alberta Health Services and given information about the virus, Ritchie said: “We haven’t been contacted by AHS. I take that as a good thing.”
Ritchie also believes the virus numbers can be misleading in that people can test positive for the virus even while recovering from it and not being contagious. “They are testing positive because it’s still in their system.”
But he said people aren’t placed in the ‘recovered’ category until they stop testing positive.
He noted some people discussing the issue on social media are incorrectly questioning if the virus came from the Carena, which is now open with restrictions to hockey camps.
With the summer hockey camps, however, Ritchie was confident the Carena’s arena and concession area were being run in an extremely safe manner, with staff following all necessary protocols.
Arena Manager Darryl Gagnon listed all the protocols involved in staging these events, which begin with only allowing the players and immediate families inside.
“They’re not going into town, they are in the rink and then going home.” Screening is done at the incoming door. The players must already be dressed upon arrival so dressing rooms have limited use.
Gagnon said that 70 per cent alcohol disinfectant spray is applied after each group uses a space.
“We’re taking extreme measures to clean more than normal, he said. If anyone was in the building who turned out having the virus, “we would shut down the facility and do a deep clean…But we haven’t had a single case. I know many of the kids and if there was a case we would have heard of it.”
There are also 11 active cases in the Municipal District of Wainwright No. 61. Four cases have recovered and one patient unfortunately died. Flagstaff County has seen 10 cases, with seven listed as active, three recovered, and no deaths.
Due to the increase in cases, Alberta Health Services has placed the Viking half of the county on “watch” status, along with the M.D. of Wainwright. Watch status means it is above the acceptable threshold but not yet high enough to take any additional action.
According to Alberta’s geospatial map, the Viking area has among the highest number of active cases in the province. Beaver County’s rate of active cases per 100k was 637.8 based on a population of 10,191, making it among the highest in the province. By comparison, M.D. of Wainwright’s was 101.6 based on a population of 11,810.
If more cases are discovered, the level could go to “enhanced,” which means additional public health measures would be taken to try and contain the spread of the virus.
As of July 30, the Central Zone increased from 175 active cases listed on Thursday to 254 on Friday. Friday’s listings included 208 recovered cases out of a total of 464 cases for the zone. Of the total, 14 people were in hospital and five in intensive care with two deaths.
No deaths have been reported for the Tofield and Viking regions which comprise Beaver County.
As of Friday, there were 1,386 active cases reported across the province. In all, since the beginning of the pandemic, 196 Albertans have died. The average victim age, according to the Alberta Government’s website, is 84.
Further updates will be published in the August 5 edition of The Weekly Review.
Patricia Harcourt
Editor
