'He was taken sooner than he needed to be': 3rd patient dies in Foothills hospital COVID-19 outbreaks

A woman whose father became the third fatality connected to a pair of COVID-19 outbreaks at Foothills hospital in Calgary wants people to know how quickly the virus can turn deadly. 

The 82-year-old man had been in a cardiac unit suffering from congestive heart failure since August. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 on the weekend and succumbed to the virus early Wednesday morning.

"This is how fast this virus works, and the sooner people realize that, the sooner we can stop it from spreading," said the man's daughter, Michelle Cairnsmith, who asked that her father not be named for privacy reasons.

"He was taken sooner than he needed to be. But people need to know that that's how fast that virus works."

Two cardiac units and the hospital's general unit are affected by the outbreaks.

The first case in one of the hospital's cardiac units was detected Friday, and a case in the general unit was detected the next day.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 17 patients and nine staff members had tested positive for COVID-19, while 114 staff members were in isolation.

Officials said Tuesday that the hospital remains fully staffed as managers use overtime and reassignments to cover shifts as needed.

Alberta Health said the outbreak is currently the largest in the province.

On Monday, an AHS spokesperson said there was no evidence the outbreaks were connected.

AHS said that in addition to enhanced screening, cleaning and restricted visitation on the affected units, the hospital has set up multiple sites for increased testing capacity for staff on outbreak units.

Any patient with symptoms or who has tested positive is being isolated and treated in designated rooms.

AHS continues to investigate how the virus entered the units.

Alberta reported 150 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the province's total active cases to 1,565, up by 106 from the previous day's total of 1,459.