Calgary E. coli cases up, more patients head home from hospital

Saturday’s numbers on the E. coli outbreak that originated from a central kitchen in Alberta show 342 lab-confirmed cases, and patients in hospital continue to head home.

The number includes 23 cases resulting from secondary transmission.

In a statement released Saturday, Alberta Health Services (AHS) says the cases continue to increase as additional test results come back from the lab.

At this time, 12 patients are in hospital. Ten have hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication affecting the blood and kidneys, with six children on dialysis. Those patients are in stable condition.

To date, 37 children and one adult have been hospitalized as part of the outbreak.

Twenty-six have been discharged from the hospital since the beginning of the outbreak in late August.

Alberta Chief Medical Officer of Health Mark Joffe said late Friday that more facilities have to close due to the outbreak spreading further.

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However, AHS later appeared to revise Joffe’s statement, saying in a news release late Saturday afternoon that most of the additional facilities faced only “partial closures” affecting specific classrooms at the facilities.

“What appears to have happened is that some parents who were at the affected facilities moved their children over to other daycares,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith explained during her provincewide call-in radio show on Saturday morning.

“The main message is for any parent who is involved in this initial outbreak, they have to be very, very careful that they’re not inadvertently causing these kind of secondary infections and make sure that their kids are not playing with other kids until they’ve got their … go-ahead that they’re clear of E. coli.”

The facilities are Active Start Country Hills, the Scenic Acres CanCare Childcare location, CEFA Early Learning Childcare South, MTC Daycare, Renert Junior Kindergarten, and Calgary JCC Child Care.

In addition, Vik Academy, which was part of original closures earlier this month and had reopened, now has classrooms 3 and 4 closed again as a precaution pending testing results.

Joffe said the facilities were closing in an “abundance of caution,” and that they would need to be cleaned and sanitized, along with all children needed to test negative before returning to the centres.

Amendments to Public Health Act need to happen: Smith

During her radio program, Smith was asked by the moderator and by a caller why a central kitchen that investigators believe was the source of the outbreak had been allowed to continue operating after earlier violations were identified.

A report detailing health violations at the kitchen said improper sanitation, live cockroaches and issues around food handling were found following an inspection that was done a day after the outbreak was declared.

Previous inspection reports also found violations, including cleanliness and sanitation issues, an expired food handling certificate and inadequate handwashing facilities dating back to July 2021.

Smith explained that the kitchen, which Calgary’s medical officer of health has said will remain closed until critical health violations are addressed, had been brought back into compliance following a review in April.

She noted that Joffe told a news conference Friday that there’s not a mechanism in the Public Health Act to permanently close a kitchen, and she said a review of the act will be done.

However, Smith said some of that job could fall to a panel she announced earlier this year led by former Reform Party Leader Preston Manning, which will examine any legislative reforms that should be considered coming out of COVID-19.

Smith stopped short of committing to call a public inquiry into the outbreak when asked whether one was needed, noting multiple inspectors are working on the case and that 45 different food products have been tested.

“Whatever form it takes, we do need to get to the bottom of it, and I want to wait until we get over the initial hump, make sure those kids are back home safely with their families, make sure that we’ve managed to mitigate any of the harm and are dealing with the long-term consequences, and then turn our attention to any legislative changes that need to be made,” Smith said.

“We want to get to the bottom of it first, but make no mistake, there will be new regulations coming.”