Premier Jason Kenney is asking all Albertans to avoid indoor social gatherings over the Easter long weekend.

He provided a COVID-19 update on Thursday highlighting the risk get togethers can pose on the health system.

Currently, hospitalizations sit under 300, however, the province is projecting that number to jump to around 500 in the coming weeks if the current rate stays the same.

The new variants, which have been shown to more contagious, is now accounting for around 33 per cent of all cases across Alberta.

Kenney is reminding people they can still hold outdoor gatherings with a maximum of 10 people and as long as they maintain a physical distance of at least two metres.

Food and beverages should also not be shared.

Daily COVID-19 Update

Fort McMurray’s active total of COVID-19 cases is still rising.

The province announced on Thursday 875 new cases over the past 24 hours across Alberta.

There are currently 8,653 active cases across Alberta, while there have been a total of 149,207 positive tests. There are also 292 Albertans in the hospital for the virus, 59 of which are in ICUs.

Locally, Fort McMurray added 27 new cases and three recoveries which raises the active total to 164.

The rural areas didn’t see any changes in the past 24 hours, keeping the total of active cases at two.

Wood Buffalo National Park added one recovery which lowers the active total to one.

In total, 1,934 individuals across the RMWB – 1,785 in Fort McMurray, 139 in the rural areas, and 10 in Wood Buffalo National Park – have recovered.

They are among the 138,560 who’ve recovered across the province. This represents over 92 per cent of reported cases.

There were also four new deaths from COVID-19 in Alberta over the past 24 hours – raising the total to 1,994.

To date, three individuals in Fort McMurray have died as a result of the virus.