Another death related to COVID-19 has been reported at Good Samaritan Southgate care centre in Edmonton, bringing the total number of fatalities related to that outbreak to 24.
According to numbers released Tuesday, all 24 deaths recorded were residents. Currently, there are 42 active cases in residents at the facility and 14 residents who have recovered. In total, 80 residents have contracted the disease.
There are also 20 active employee COVID-19 cases and 12 employees who have recovered.
“It is now the most deadly outbreak we have seen in this province and health officials are doing everything possible to contain the spread,” Alberta’s chief medical officer of health said on Tuesday.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw said Alberta Health Services is working with the facility and has deployed staff on site to provide assistance.
AHS is also meeting daily with management to get through the outbreak.
“Health officials are doing everything possible to support those who have tested positive and to prevent others from being exposed,” Hinshaw said.
Officials from Good Samaritan Southgate clarified on Tuesday that while they had said on the weekend there were 15 resident recoveries, one of the people who had been listed as recovered has now been returned to the active list.
“After a discussion with AHS and CDC, a resident who was initially counted as recovered did not fully meet the criteria and so was removed from that count today,” Julie Williams, director of communications for Good Samaritan Southgate, said in an email Tuesday.
Williams also said the total residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 at the facility is now 80 due to an error where a single patient was counted in both the active and recovered case list.
“This outbreak underlines the importance of our collective efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 and to protect the most vulnerable members of our community,” Hinshaw said.
According to Hinshaw, the same outbreak protocols that were successfully applied at other care centres across Alberta and the country are in place at this facility.