The Province is re-tooling who’ll be tested first for COVID-19 within Alberta.
Early Monday morning the government announced that they would be prioritizing at-risk people for tests, who are also showing symptoms of coronavirus. People who will be checked first will be those hospitalized with respiratory illnesses, followed by residents of continuing care and other similar facilities, people who returned from international travel between March 8th and March 12th, then healthcare workers showing symptoms later in the week.
People who returned to Alberta after March 12th and only show mild symptoms will no longer be tested, but the government is strongly encouraging them to stay home and self-isolate. This also applies to anyone who doesn’t fit the categories listed above but has symptoms.
The changes are effective moving forward, so anyone who has already been told they are going to be tested is still going to.
Currently, there are two cases of COVID-19 in Vermilion River County. As of Monday morning, 26,999 people have been tested province-wide, with 259 positive diagnoses and 26,740 negatives.