COVID-19 outbreak reported at Edmonton homeless shelter

EDMONTON -- Six people have tested positive for COVID-19 in connection to an outbreak at an Edmonton homeless shelter.

An Edmontonian experiencing homelessness who attended the Hope Mission Emergency Shelter tested positive for the coronavirus.

Five more people tested positive COVID-19 in connection to the outbreak, but one has recovered, an Alberta Health Services spokesperson said. These are the first reported cases at an Edmonton shelter.

Health officials conducted contact tracing and scheduled testing for those exposed.

People who were deemed to be at risk of contracting the disease were referred to the Edmonton Isolation Facility, AHS said.

The emergency shelter is one of two Hope Mission opened this summer to further assist homeless Edmontonians during the pandemic.

CTV News has reached out to Hope Mission for more information about the outbreak.

The city of Edmonton had 717 cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday.

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  This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. (NIAID-RML via AP)