Fort McMurray’s active total of COVID-19 cases is seeing a drop over the past 72 hours.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, announced on Monday 578 new cases across the province – the majority of which popped up in Edmonton.

Hinshaw says additional restrictions could be introduced in the city if the numbers don’t change in the province’s capital.

The new provincial cases raise the total to 18,935 with 1,783 currently active.

The active cases in Fort McMurray went down to 42 as 14 more individuals have recovered.

There were no changes in the rural areas over the past 24 hours, keeping the total of active cases at three.

In total, 304 individuals across the RMWB – 240 in Fort McMurray and 64 in the rural areas – have recovered.

They are among the 16,872 across the province. This represents just over 89 per cent of reported cases.

Meanwhile, there were eight new deaths from COVID-19 in Alberta over the past three days – raising the total to 280.

One of the deaths throughout the pandemic was in Fort McMurray.