More cases of COVID-19 have been reported at a condo building in central Calgary.
As of Monday there were a total of 48 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Verve Condominiums, three more since the weekend. Of the total, there 12 recovered and 36 active. Those numbers put Calgary – Centre into COVID-19 “watch” territory. A watch means the region has risen above 50 active cases per 100,000 people.
For people who live at the Verve, life during an outbreak has meant riding solo in the elevator, avoiding having guests over and seeing hand sanitizer everywhere. Residents have also taken up the offer of on-site testing. Over 200 people have been tested in connection with the outbreak.
“When it first happened I told my work there was one person that tested positive, so immediately I got tested and it was negative. Then they actually came to our place and they were giving out tests in our common area so I think they did a really good job of at least doing what they can,” said Verve resident Ashaya Egilson
She said most people in the building are wearing masks.
“From the beginning, we have all been going in the elevator one by one, and not really sharing space and avoiding having guests. Just doing what we can to keep our place clean,” Egilson said.
Businesses owners on the ground floor say they are hurting since news of the outbreak.
“Because of the news I don’t know if we are going to have business. It’s scary,” said Allison Hwang, owner of Queen Lash Bar.
AHS is investigating both direct person-to-person and surface spread as potential modes of transmission.
“What the outbreak at the Verve reminds us is that we are only one outbreak away from being back to where we were before,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said on Monday.
Alberta Health Services said the building’s management has been very cooperative in following public health recommendations.
AHS and building management have contacted Airbnb and they will not list units in the building right now.
Most of the cases have no known exposure and no clear link with other people in the building.
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