Edmonton – Some claim falsely that children don’t get infected as easily with Covid-19 but a new lesson has come to light at a Calgary childcare centre with two kids infected.
A study out of Chicago hospital said doctors found children under 5 had 10 to 100 times more virus in their nasal passages than adults.
And the US CDC warned children of all ages get infected and transmit as efficiently as adults.
The Calgary childcare facility was not required to close but it anyway.
“It was the BrightPath Richmond Child Care Centre in Calgary. Both cases were children,” Alberta Health spokesman Tom McMillan confirmed.
The centre had taken numerous precautions to stop infections.
It’s housed in a modern and clean facility yet the virus couldn’t be stopped. How the two children got it is not clear.
There are two cases linked to BrightPath Richmond child care centre in Calgary. Local health officials isolated those involved and are conducting contact tracing. Testing is being offered. The centre was not required to close, but the operator chose to do so voluntarily. (6/12)
— Dr. Deena Hinshaw (@CMOH_Alberta) August 10, 2020
Meanwhile, Alberta grapples with higher infection numbers and reported 5 more deaths today.
Three of the deaths are troubling because they occurred among people in their 60s who were not residents of long term care centres.
“There were two deaths from the south zone, involving a male and female, both in their 60s. Not in continuing care,” said McMillan.
“Finally, there was a death involving a male in his 60s in North Zone. Also not in continuing care,” he said.
Two other deaths occurred in the Good Samaritan South Gate care centre. This centre has been problematic and government wanted to take it over.
There are 66 people in hospital, 14 of whom are in intensive care.
Latest updates
• 257 additional cases have been identified in the last 72 hours, bringing the total number of active cases to 1,090.
• Of these cases, 108 were identified on Aug. 7, 101 on Aug. 8, and 48 on Aug. 9.
• Cases have been identified in all zones across the province:
◦ Calgary zone: 365 active cases and 6,297 recovered
◦ South zone: 61 active cases and 1,614 recovered
◦ Edmonton zone: 388 active cases and 1,550 recovered
◦ North zone: 116 active cases and 522 recovered
◦ Central zone: 157 active cases and 380 recovered
◦ Three active cases and 21 recovered cases in zones to be confirmed
• To date, 1,836 cases have an unknown exposure.
• There were 26,357 tests completed in the last 72 hours.
• Alberta labs have now performed 770,266 tests on 631,295 Albertans.
• There are five new deaths to report in the last 72 hours.
◦ Total number of deaths is 213: 114 in the Calgary zone; 54 in the Edmonton zone; 20 in the North zone; 20 in the South zone; and five in the Central zone.
• There are 47 active cases and 897 recovered cases at continuing care facilities; 150 facility residents have died.
