The province is planning to keep the current COVID-19 measures in place for the time being.
Health Minister Tyler Shandro announced on Monday they won’t be moving into phase three of their plan to reopen the economy as hospitalization numbers rise across Alberta.
Under the plan, step three would start if the number of Albertans in the hospital was under 300.
Shandro says we’ve hit this goal, however, they also needed to see a downtrend to move between steps.
“The decline that we saw in January and February has stopped… this is a problem and a warning sign we must take seriously.”
Measures that have been eased through the first two steps will remain in place.
Once hospital numbers start trending downwards, the province plans on reconsidering moving into step three. This would include easing measures for adult sports, places of worship, indoor social gatherings, and more.
If the numbers get worse, Shandro says they would consider tightening restrictions on certain activities tied to a high number of cases, a regional approach, and more.
Daily COVID-19 Update
Fort McMurray’s active total of COVID-19 cases is once again rising.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, announced on Monday 456 new cases over the past day across Alberta.
There are currently 6,176 active cases across Alberta, while there have been a total of 142,390 positive tests. There are also 280 Albertans in the hospital for the virus, 48 of which are in ICUs.
Locally, Fort McMurray added two new cases and one recovery which raises the active total to 30.
The rural areas saw no changes in the past 24 hours, keeping the total of active cases at two.
Wood Buffalo National Park also continues to have one active case.
In total, 1,910 individuals across the RMWB – 1,764 in Fort McMurray, 137 in the rural areas, and nine in Wood Buffalo National Park – have recovered.
They are among the 134,246 who’ve recovered across the province. This represents under 95 per cent of reported cases.
There were also five new deaths from COVID-19 in Alberta over the past 24 hours – raising the total at 1,968.
To date, three individuals in Fort McMurray have died as a result of the virus.
