Convention centre shelter outbreak triples in size: Alberta Health

COVID-19 outbreak at Edmonton shelter A makeshift centre for the homeless in Edmonton now has 37 COVID-19 cases.

EDMONTON — An outbreak at a temporary homeless shelter has grown from a dozen cases to nearly 40.

As of Sunday, there were 37 cases linked to the Edmonton Convention Centre shelter, operated by the Bissell Centre, Boyle Street, Bent Arrow and The Mustard Seed organizations.

All 37 cases were still active.

The agencies announced the outbreak on Thursday, saying non-essential programming would be paused for two weeks and contact tracing had begun.

There were 12 cases linked to the shelter at the time.

Alberta Health does not provide a breakdown of resident and staff cases.

Residents who tested positive were being taken to an isolation space run by the Boyle McCauley Health Centre.

The centre has room for about 400 people during the day and 300 overnight.

It opened Oct. 30 and has a permit to run until the spring.