Mayor Don Scott is urging residents across the region to follow all COVID-19 protocols.

Active cases have been rising steadily over the past month, officially surpassing 1,000 on Friday.

Currently, 992 cases are active in Fort McMurray and 22 in the rural area. The only cities with more are Calgary and Edmonton.

Scott tells Mix News the high number of cases is cause for concern.

“The province has told us what’s going to work and we need to start following those as much as possible.”

The RMWB is currently the worst in the province when it comes to spread of the virus as the area is averaging roughly 1,215 cases per 100,000 individuals.

The closest is Banff which is averaging over 100 fewer cases per 100,000 people.

Calgary and Edmonton, the two most populated cities in Alberta, are sitting at 494 and 358 cases per 100,000 individuals respectively.

“Please protect yourselves and your neighbours and follow the guidelines,” added Scott.

At this time, the municipality hasn’t heard of any extra measures coming from the province to curb the spread across the region.

If more restrictions do come, Scott notes he’s nervous about what could happen to local businesses.

“We need to keep supporting small businesses including our restaurants, which have really been struggling through this pandemic, but do so safely, do so by ordering.”

He adds it’s up to residents to follow the current measures which includes wearing a mask in indoor public spaces, avoiding indoor social gatherings, and self-isolating when sick.

Also, Scott noted local emergency personnel need to be recognized for all the hard work they continue to do during this pandemic