Alberta doctor saw patients, underwent medical procedure before testing positive for COVID-19

Alberta Health says a rheumatologist in the Edmonton Zone both saw patients and was a patient himself before testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this month.

The case was announced to the public on March 11, and Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw also said at that time he’d been a patient at the Misericordia Hospital in Edmonton.

However, it wasn’t announced at the time that the man was a doctor who had seen patients and attended a previously-scheduled medical appointment at the Misericordia before testing positive on March 9. Officials didn’t say when he had the procedure, but said he didn’t see patients while at the hospital.

The man had travelled to Washington State in the U.S. and got back to Canada in late February, Alberta Health said in an emailed statement on Friday.

Hinshaw also released a statement on the case Friday, saying the doctor only saw patients before developing symptoms of the novel coronavirus and didn’t see any more patients once symptoms developed.

Alberta Health said he only saw patients for one day before becoming symptomatic, but didn’t say where or on which day.

He tested positive on March 9 and then went into self-isolation, Alberta Health said.

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