UCP KILLS HEALTHCARE WORKER 
Alberta has lost its first health-care worker to COVID-19, and recorded 96 fatalities over the past five days

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© Provided by Edmonton Journal Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro.

Health Minister Tyler Shandro announced the death in an email statement Monday afternoon, saying he was deeply saddened to learn of it.

“Health-care workers are doing all they can to protect the people they care for, their co-workers, and themselves,” said Shandro. “The dedication and remarkable commitment I’ve witnessed from health-care workers throughout the pandemic has never wavered — you have stepped up for this province in a time of need.”

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees identified the worker as 61-year-old Joe Marie (Jing) Corral. Corral was a health care aide at the Bethany Riverview continuing care facility in Calgary.

“It’s always hard to lose a loved one, but it seems even harder over the holidays when we are so focused on family and friends. AUPE is a community of colleagues and we all send our condolences to the family, said AUPE vice-president Bobby-Joe Borodey.

Mike Parker, president of the Health Sciences Associations of Alberta, said news of Corral’s death was a blow to his membership.

“Our folks are heading into work every single day and this heartbreaking news that’s coming out now, at a time when we don’t have the vaccines being rolled out when our members are not getting the protections that they need from from the rollout of the vaccines, it is really, really tough to hear,” said Parker.

Alberta Health Services spokesman Kerry Williamson said the worker was not an AHS employee but their hearts go out to their loved ones and colleagues.

“Losing a fellow health-care worker impacts us all — this person is a colleague, and we think of them as part of our healthcare family,” said Williamson in an email. “Health-care workers across the province have been working tirelessly to take care of Albertans, and we are so grateful for their commitment and their dedication.”

Data provided online by the government shows 6,426 cases of COVID-19 in health-care workers have been reported since the pandemic began.

Following Shandro’s statement, Alberta Health spokesman Tom McMillan announced 96 people have died with COVID-19 over the past five days, including 54 in the Edmonton Zone. The latest online update is the first since Dec. 30.

A total of 1,142 Albertans have died from COVID-19 since March.

© Provided by Edmonton Journal

On Dec. 30, 1,226 new cases were identified across Alberta while 1,361, 933, 459 and 1,128 cases were recorded on Dec. 31, Jan. 1, Jan. 2 and Jan. 3, respectively. Fewer tests were completed on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2 than on the other three days.

Returning from the new year break, active cases and hospitalizations have dropped since the end of December but so did the number of completed tests. There are currently 13,839 active infections in Alberta, down from 14,555 on Dec. 29.

The number of Albertans getting treatment in hospital has also dropped as there are 905 COVID-19 patients across the province, including 136 in intensive care. On Dec. 29 there were 921 people in hospital, including 152 in intensive care.

Data shows the provincial R value, or the rate at which the virus is spreading, was 0.99 between Dec. 28 and Jan. 3. The Edmonton Zone’s R value was 0.93 during that time frame.

An R value of one typically means that an infected individual will infect one other person. Premier Jason Kenney has previously stated he wants to see the provincial value drop below one, ideally to 0.8.

© Provided by Edmonton Journal