By GILLIAN SLADE on August 29, 2020.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade The south zone now has the lowest number of active cases of all zones in the province, according to data from Alberta Health released this week. The entire south zone, which includes Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Brooks and the surrounding area, has 18 active cases of COVID. The central zone has 25, the north zone 148, Calgary zone 375 and Edmonton 589. There are 1,158 active cases across the province and three of those have not been assigned to a zone yet. Neither Medicine Hat nor Cypress County have any active cases. In the South Zone, Warner County has the most active cases at five followed by Brooks, Newell County and Vulcan, with three each. Lethbridge has two and there is one case in each of several other counties. The south zone has the second lowest number of deaths that have been attributed to COVID by Alberta Health. The central zone has seven deaths, south zone 24, north zone 28, Edmonton 60 and Calgary 118. There are currently nearly 2,000 COVID cases that have no known exposure. Alberta Health is currently asking Albertans who would like to have an asymptomatic test for COVID to delay doing so, through two local pharmacies, until Tuesday. This will allow teachers and school staff an opportunity to be tested before school starts. Anyone with symptoms must still book testing through Alberta Health Services (call HealthLink 811). People with symptoms and close contacts receive priority for a testing appointment. Alberta has conducted more than 930,000 COVID tests so far and is doing more than 10,000 a day. 11