A GRIM ANNIVERSARY
By Gillian Slade on March 19, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDG
slade@abnewsgroup.com
One year ago the first COVID death was reported in Alberta and the first cases were announced in the south zone.
Below is a chronological order of events as they unfolded that week.
March 16, 2020
• Schools and daycares were closed.
• Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, revealed that two of the most recent cases in the province were not travel related and public health officials had not been able to determine how transmission had occurred.
• Alberta Health announced there were 74 cases of COVID in Alberta.
• The first COVID death in Canada was announced.
– Alberta had processed 8,831 COVID tests at this point.
• People were urged not to go to a hospital or visit a doctor but rather call HealthLink.
– Anyone who had travelled outside of Canada was advised to self-isolated for 14 days.
March 17, 2020
• The number of COVID cases in Alberta reached 97.
• The south zone went from one COVID case to three cases in two days.
• Longterm care facilities were advised to allow only essential visitors.
• Places of worship were limited to gatherings of 50 people.
• Weddings and funerals were limited to 50 people.
Premier Jason Kenney made the announcement in the legislature.
“The situation is very serious and we are taking action more effectively to protect Albertans against this pandemic,” said Kenney in a Canadian Press story in the Medicine Hat News.
• Medicine Hat News told the story of a local couple who were due to marry March 18 and decided to cancel the event due to restrictions.
• Restaurants were limited to 50 people and buffet food was stopped.
• The 50 person restriction did not apply to grocery stores, health-care facilities, or airports.
• Ski Hills were encouraged to close.
• Hinshaw revealed she herself was experiencing COVID-like symptoms and had had a COVID test. She described how she was self-isolating.
“This is what our new normal looks like,” Hinshaw told The Canadian Press at the time.
March 18, 2020
• The UCP government announced immediate financial assistance to Albertans who were not able to work because they were required to self-isolate.
• Canada talked about the need for an open border with the U.S. to ensure trucks transporting supplies, including food and medicines into Canada, would continue. Hinshaw had announced on March 16 that anyone returning after travel outside of Canada would need to isolate for 14 days.
March 19, 2020
• The first case of COVID in Medicine Hat was announced.
– There were 736 COVID cases in Canada and nine deaths.
• Alberta had 146 COVID cases.
• The first COVID death in Alberta was reported. An Edmonton man in his 60s with underlying medical conditions.
“This individual was admitted in the ICU in the Edmonton zone on March 12,” said Hinshaw. “As heartbreaking as this news is, it was expected. This is a dangerous virus. While most people who become ill with COVID only experience mild symptoms, it can make others very sick.”
•- The number of COVID cases by zone: Calgary 101, Edmonton 29, central zone three, south zone three and north zone 10.
•- A total of 16,867 tests had been carried out in Alberta.
• Hinshaw revealed a person who had attended a curling bonspiel, before restrictions were announced, had tested positive for the virus. Other attendees were being contacted.
March 20, 2020
• Alberta had 195 positive cases of COVID, including five in the south zone.
• The UCP government amended the Emergency Management Act to allow for local and provincial states of emergency to exist at the same time.
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