Albertas top doctor says more sites will be closed sanitized after e. coli outbreak

CALGARY - Alberta's chief medical officer of health says he has been made aware of additional daycare sites in Calgary where children have tested positive for E. coli.

Dr. Mark Joffe issued a statement late Friday night saying the additional facilities will be closed out of an abundance of caution.

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He says the sites will be required to be cleaned and sanitized and all children will be tested to confirm their negative status before returning to the centres.

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All facility operators have been contacted, and Joffe says parents with kids at these facilities will be directly notified as soon as possible by the operators working with Alberta Health Services.

The statement notes some of the children who have tested positive at the added centres are connected to daycares from the original outbreak.

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

In addition, Joffe says Vik Academy, which was part of the original closures and had reopened, is closed once again as a precaution pending testing results.

"To all the parents involved in this terrible situation, we hear you and understand what you are going through," the statement reads. "However, it is crucial for parents who have children who attend these daycares follow the guidance being given to them by health care professionals. If your daycare is closed, please respect why this is done and keep your children at home. Only send your child to another facility if they have tested negative for E. coli and have no symptoms."

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The statement asks all daycare operators in the Calgary region to confirm the health and daycare history of children who are new to their facility.

"By working together and following health guidance, we will stop this outbreak."

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Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said in a social media post on Saturday that there have been 342 lab-confirmed cases of the bacterial infection related to the outbreak declared on Sept. 4, up five from the number of cases reported on Friday.

Twelve children were still in hospital as of Friday, 10 of whom have hemolytic uremic syndrome -- a complication affecting the blood and kidneys.

Six of those children were receiving dialysis.

LaGrange said the number of children in hospital on Saturday remained at 12.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2023.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version said CEFA Early Learning Childcare - North was one of the additional daycare sites in Calgary where children have tested positive for E. coli, but the Alberta government has corrected that to CEFA Early Learning Childcare - South.