Youngest Albertan dies of COVID-19 in Central Zone


The fifth COVID-19 death for the Town of Drumheller since the start of the pandemic was reported by the province on Wednesday, September 22; on the same day a total of 20 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported across the province and included the youngest death in the province-an 18 year old from the Central Zone.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) was unable to provide any further information regarding this case. The Central Zone encompasses a total of 30 hospitals across 95,000 square kilometres and stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Saskatchewan border, and from north of Calgary to the southern boundaries of Edmonton.

“We need to move past short term restrictions,” says Dr. Rithesh Ram, owner and operator of Riverside Medical Clinic. “What we need are long term policies and procedures that will help us now and into the future, otherwise every subsequent wave has the potential to be deadlier and deadlier.”

He adds, despite beliefs the government has created a mess of the pandemic, government officials are not the ones rioting outside hospitals and harassing staff at restaurants and small businesses who have enacted the Restrictions Exemption Program (REP) and require proof of vaccination.

Dr. Ram also notes the politicians in charge of putting restrictions and policies in place are not medical experts and rely on expert advice to enact these decisions.

“Clearly, given how poorly Alberta has done, they are not receiving the best advice on how to move forward,” he says.

Dr. Ram says all eligible Albertans need to get their COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible to protect the overwhelmed healthcare system, which is currently “under attack from a tsunami of unvaccinated patients.”

Some 8,073 residents of the Starland County-Drumheller region, or 78.1 per cent of residents 12 and older, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine; 67.2 per cent of the same population, or some 6,946 people, are fully vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine.

As of Monday, September 27 there are a total of 40 active, 525 recovered cases of COVID-19 and five deaths reported for the Town of Drumheller.

In Starland County there are 11 active cases, 87 active cases in Kneehill County, and 24 active cases in Wheatland County.

Lacie Nairn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Drumheller Mail