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Alberta child care facilities facing COVID-19 outbreak spike. Here’s why

Click to play video: 'Alberta child-care facilities facing a spike in COVID-19 outbreaks. Here’s why'
Alberta child-care facilities facing a spike in COVID-19 outbreaks. Here’s why
Alberta child-care facilities are experiencing a massive spike in COVID-19 outbreaks. As Jackie Wilson reports, over half are in Calgary. – May 17, 2021

Child care facilities across Alberta are experiencing a spike in COVID-19 outbreaks.

According to Alberta Health, 87 currently have an outbreak. Of those, more than half are in Calgary.

An outbreak is declared when five or more cases are linked to transmission within a business.

  • North Zone: 9
  • Edmonton Zone: 22
  • Central Zone: 6
  • Calgary Zone: 47
  • South Zone: 3

In terms of the Calgary outbreaks, here’s a breakdown of the data from Alberta Health.

LocationTotalActiveRecovered
1st Class Child Care, Calgary725
A2Z Kidz Ed., Calgary761
Active Start Childcare Country Hills Centre, Calgary16412
Active Start Childcare Sage Hill Centre, Calgary26215
Alpine Montessori Children’s Centre, Calgary12012
Bonavista Montessori Children’s Academy, Calgary12120
BrightPath Airdrie South12012
BrightPath Richmond, Calgary844
BrightPath Sage Hill, Calgary871
Brightpath Whitehorn, Calgary871
Cancare Children’s Centre Arbour Lake, Calgary33321
Child Enrichment Centre, Calgary23023
Creative Learning Centre Daycare and Preschool (Canyon Meadows Dr.), Calgary606
Crossfield Montessori Childcare, Crossfield15114
Discovery Childcare, Calgary10010
Early Discoveries Nursery School, Calgary19019
Early Explorers Learning Centre, Calgary12102
Evansfun Dayhome, Calgary505
Inner Garden Dayhome, Calgary770
Just for You Daycare Killarney, Calgary880
Kids & Company (Britannia), Calgary28127
Kids & Company (Evanston), Calgary11110
Kids Connection Daycare, High River862
Kids First Creative Childcare, Calgary23185
Kidsland Daycare (McKenzie), Calgary550
Kids U – McKnight, Calgary19109
Kidz Home, Calgary550
La Societe Pommes de Reinette Daycare NE, Calgary1028
Leap n Learn, Okotoks18180
Little Roots Learning Centre, Calgary716
Little Steps Preschool, Airdrie716
Little Treasures Inglewood, Calgary505
Mahogany Learning Centre, Calgary606
Magic Mountain Daycare (Crossings), Airdrie701258
Magic Mountain Daycare (Kings Heights), Airdrie505
Mahogany Scholars Preschool, Calgary909
Mount Royal University Child Care Centre (2227 58 Ave.), Calgary835
My Kinderhouse Preschool Country Hills, Calgary871
Pacekids Program, Calgary743
Private day home, Calgary13013
Private day home, Calgary761
Ranchland Montessori Children’s Centre, Calgary532
Thornhill Child Care Centre (Bowness Montgomery), Calgary39930
Thornhill Child Care Centre (Centre St.), Calgary17512
Wee Wild Ones, Calgary562234
Willowbrae Childcare Academy, Calgary10010
Wonder World Dayhome, Calgary880
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Dr. Deena Hinshaw said Monday the spike in child care facility outbreaks can be linked to a number of factors, but the biggest contributor is COVID-19 variants.

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“We have seen that variant cases, when introduced into child care facilities — particularly the P1 variant cases — when those are introduced, they can spread more easily than we have seen, even with the B.1.1.7 or other variant cases.”

The P1 variant was first identified in Brazil.

Hinshaw adds the increase could also be, in part, due to a lower threshold for reporting outbreaks and the close monitoring of these types of businesses.

One Calgary child-care director attributes the outbreak at her facility to asymptomatic infections.

“They’re coming in and they don’t have any symptoms, so it’s really hard for us to know where the COVID-19 is coming from,” said Jenni Van Iderstine, director of Early Discoveries.

Given the surge in cases, the province is investigating if any additional measures need to be taken to improve child care facility safety.

Click to play video: 'Edmonton area sees spike in daycare COVID-19 outbreaks'
Edmonton area sees spike in daycare COVID-19 outbreaks
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