A Calgary doctor has died of COVID-19 Alberta Health confirmed on Thursday.
The man was in his 70s, according to the province.
While the doctor didn’t contract COVID-19 at work, Health Minister Tyler Shandro said all Albertans grieve the loss of the physician.
“(W)e know physicians are on the front lines every day, working hard to battle the physical and emotional toll of this pandemic,” the minister said in a news release issued Thursday morning.
“Their expert care, deep compassion and tireless leadership is one of the finest examples of public service.”
The Alberta Medical Association didn’t provide any further details on the doctor, but president Dr. Paul Boucher said in a statement that the “circle of the pandemic’s impact tightens with each passing day.”
“For physicians, we have all contemplated the possibility of losing colleagues to the virus and what we have dreaded has come to pass,” Boucher said. “We grieve with the families, loved ones and care teams touched by this loss and offer our deepest condolences.”
The doctor’s death comes just days after it was confirmed two other health-care workers in the province died due to the novel coronavirus.
The first death was announced Monday morning and, on Monday night, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees issued a statement identifying the person who died as Joe Marie (Jing) Corral, a health-care aide at Bethany Riverview continuing-care facility in Calgary.
Coral left behind a son in Edmonton and a daughter in Burnaby, B.C. He died Dec. 28.
The second health-care worker death was announced on Tuesday. That person hasn’t been identified, but Shandro said it was a woman in her 50s who lived in the Edmonton zone.
Boucher encouraged the medical community to “look to each other for support and healing” after the three deaths and in the “challenging times still ahead.
“Please keep yourselves safe and know that the broader community supports you in the work that you do everyday.”
No further details about the physician were provided in Thursday’s government news release.