TopDoc reports 800 new cases in Alta, saying Spread exceeds the Province’s contact-tracing capacity

EDMONTON – Alberta Health on Thursday confirmed 800 new COVID-19 cases in the province, asking its chief medical officer to issue an ultimatum: without a reduction in active cases, more action is needed to protect Alberta’s health. Care system.

The province has set its daily record several times in the past two weeks, with 622 cases recorded on October 29 and 592 on November 1.

But not always 800.

“The measures we introduced 10 days ago to help the plateau of cases over the last 10 days are not effective enough,” Dr Deena Hinsha said in an afternoon update.

“That means in seven to 10 days from now, our hospital number will increase further, which means Albertans care will also be affected with COVID as well as other issues.”

She said the department was unable to report accurate numbers due to “internal discrepancies” in its reporting system, but that the ability to detect and follow new cases was not affected.

Low-priority cases to provide information for own consultation of a positive diagnosis

However, Hinsha said Alberta Health Services’ ability to detect new cases is higher than the transmission rate, so AHS should focus on “high-priority alignment” cases until it hires more contract tracers.

“AHS does not currently have the capability to call every contact in a timely manner,” Hinsha commented.

“Every certified case comes with a phone call to determine if there is a link to a high-priority setting, such as a continuing care facility, health care setting, or school. If so, attendees will still be contacted to be notified, ”she explained.

If a case is not connected to a high-priority setting, they are given information about calling their own contacts and informing them of the need to isolate and test.

“When a phone call comes in from an Alberta Health Services public health professional, they emphasize the importance of seeing cases reveal their own contacts,” Hinsha assured.

Albertans can be spread and infected through work

The day before, the province reported 6,230 active cases across Alberta, with 164 Alberts hospitalized.

On Thursday, Hinsha said there were more than 2,500 cases in each of Alberta’s two largest cities, with a “high proportion” of those who worked or went to a social gathering.

In Edmonton, nine percent of active cases worked only when there were symptoms. Another eight percent visited retail or service businesses. Another eight percent went to a social meeting.

In Calgary, 11 percent worked symptomatically. Another nine percent traveled. Another seven percent attended the social meeting.

“We are talking about at least 500 people who are not at home at the time of the symptom. This is very important. If you have any symptoms please call Albertans to stop all activities,” Hinsha asked Albertans.

In each city, 40 percent of cases were exposed at home or in a meeting.

“My biggest concern is, I don’t think Halloween is still running these numbers,” the senior doctor commented.

She said the rate of current cases was high in conversations about how to proceed, but that this was not the time for tougher sanctions.

“We want to make sure that the actions we take over time re-balance the effects of COVID and the effects of limitations.”

Exact data to return on Friday

Alberta Health will release the latest and specific data for Friday and Thursday.

“This is not a good week,” Hinsha admitted, citing system upgrades over the weekend and specific system issue that caused late data on Wednesday and exact numbers on Thursday.

“Sometimes the car breaks down.”

All Hinsha said about this issue, her team found “internal differences” during normal quality assurance processes.

It said Hinsha was only able to report “approximately 800” cases out of 14,000 tests on Thursday and inaccurate reporting of tests performed the previous day. On Wednesday, Alberta Health reported nearly 600 COVID-19 cases in 7,400 tests; The exact number of tests is actually 11,000, Hinsha said.

“The team is working hard to address this as we speak.”