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Drop in active case rate removes RMWB from provincial COVID-19 watch list

Last Updated Oct 7, 2020 at 4:08 pm MDT

FILE - In this Wednesday, March 11, 2020 file photo, a technician prepares COVID-19 coronavirus patient samples for testing at a laboratory in New York's Long Island. The Trump administration’s plan to provide every nursing home with a fast COVID-19 testing machine comes with an asterisk: the government won’t supply enough test kits to check staff and residents beyond an initial couple of rounds. A program that sounded like a game changer when it was announced last month at the White House is now prompting concerns that it could turn into another unfulfilled promise for nursing homes, whose residents and staff account for as many as 4 in 10 coronavirus deaths. Administration officials respond that nursing homes can pay for ongoing testing from a $5-billion federal allocation available to them. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Alberta removed the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo from its COVID-19 watch list.

The RMWB has an active case rate per 100,000 Albertans of 39.8, below the threshold of 50.

The province reported no new cases and nine recovered cases of COVID-19 in Wood Buffalo in the last 24 hours.

Eight recoveries are inside the urban service area, which has 31 active cases, one death, and 255 recoveries of the illness.

A single recovered case is outside the urban service area, where there are two active cases and 65 resolved cases of COVID-19.

Across Alberta, there are 143 new cases, no additional deaths, and 133 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

Alberta has 1910 active cases, 281 deaths, and 17,163 recoveries of COVID-19.

66 Albertans are in hospital with 13 in intensive care.

An infectious disease expert said Alberta is not in a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

RELATED: Province not in second wave of pandemic says infectious disease expert

National outlook

There were some small positive signs in COVID-19 data reported from Quebec and Ontario, even as hospitalizations inched upwards in Canada’s two most populous provinces.

New cases in Quebec dropped to 900 after five straight days of more than 1,000 cases reported.

Ontario’s number of new cases rose from Tuesday to 583, but a large number of recoveries meant that active cases dropped by more than 100.

The province also reported one new death, compared to seven on Tuesday.

Hospitalizations continued to rise in both provinces, however, with an increase of 12 in Quebec and three in Ontario.

Quebec also reported seven additional deaths, including one that occurred in the past 24 hours.

This article includes excerpts from The Canadian Press.