UPDATE: As of Thursday, the number of cases associated with the COVID-19 outbreak at the Coalhurst Good News Centre Church had grown to 37.
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A COVID-19 outbreak has been confirmed within a church community in the Lethbridge area.
Alberta Health Services says all individuals exposed to the cases are being contacted and will be instructed to follow requirements for isolation and testing.
As of Wednesday, more than 20 new cases had been linked to the outbreak and case identification is ongoing.
AHS isn’t releasing any further details about the outbreak in order to protect patient confidentiality.
Lethbridge residents are being asked to continue to be vigilant in following guidelines around social distancing, hand hygiene, masking, and cohort groups.
Lethbridge and Lethbridge County have both experienced a spike in new COVID-19 cases over the past few days.
According to Tuesday’s data, which covers new cases confirmed between Sunday afternoon and Monday afternoon, the number of new cases in the city rose by 18 for a total of 29 active cases in Lethbridge compared to just five active cases last Thursday.
Wednesday’s data added nine more in the city for a total of 38 active cases.
Lethbridge County is also seeing an increase with five new cases in Tuesday’s update and nine in Wednesday’s update for a total of 26 active cases.
The active COVID-19 case count in Lethbridge hasn’t been this high since mid-to-late July.