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An outbreak of the P.1 variant first identified in Brazil started with a traveller returning to Alberta from out of province and has been traced to three worksites, chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said Monday.
To date, there are 26 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across worksites in the Central Zone and North Zone and of those, three are confirmed to be the variant of concern, Hinshaw tweeted. The employees travelled between sites and the cases are linked to them and their household contacts.
“AHS has been working with the operator and cases to ensure anyone at risk of exposure is offered testing and quarantines to limit the spread,” she said.
“This includes employees at other sites who may have been exposed. Anyone at risk is being directly contacted and supported.”
A separate, unrelated outbreak of the P.1 variant has also been reported at a workplace in the Calgary Zone. Five cases are linked to this outbreak, included one confirmed case of the P.1 variant.
Alberta reported 887 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, after 9,102 tests were completed over the last 24 hours for a positivity rate of 9.7 per cent.
There were 432 new variant cases also reported. Of the 10,582 active COVID-19 cases across the province, 4,145 or 39.2 per cent are variants of concern.
There are 312 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, an increase of 20 since numbers were last provided on Friday. Of those, 76 are in intensive care units, an increase of 17.
Four more people have died, raising the provincial death toll to 1,998.
More to come.
