Dr. Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health for Alberta gave an update on the COVID-19 response in the province today.

There were 875 new cases of coronavirus in Alberta over the last 24 hours with over 16,000 tests completed. But 23 Albertans have died as well. There are 820 people in the hospital and within that 137 people in ICUs.

In Strathmore, there are 72 active cases and there have been 8 deaths related to the virus. In Wheatland County, there are 35 active COVID-19 cases.

“The reduction in our positivity rate is encouraging. The reduction in our new daily cases is also encouraging,” Hinshaw said.

In terms of schools, Hinshaw said there are four schools on alert with an outbreak at one school. They have identified 6 cases.

“Our health system remains under significant strain,” she said.

In terms of how the virus is being spread, Hinshaw explained how COVID-19 can spread from long-term care residents to healthcare workers and their families.

She said, “It shines a light on the link between a long-term care resident, and the worker who cares for them as well as the worker's spouse the co-workers of the worker’s spouse and those co-worker's friends. COVID-19 doesn’t care about anyone’s race, religion, or political preferences. All that matters to it is whether an infectious person is close enough to another person for long enough to be able for the virus to spread.” 

Hinshaw called on Albertans to limit in-person interactions in order to reduce community spread.