Alberta adds 258 COVID-19 cases, 4 deaths since Friday

Edmonton remains COVID hotspot More than half the cases of COVID-19 in Alberta are in the Edmonton zone.

EDMONTON — Alberta's chief medical officer of health reported 258 new cases of COVID-19 and four more deaths since Friday.

After nearly 30,000 tests, there were 83 cases confirmed on Friday, 106 on Saturday and 69 on Sunday.

The province now has 1,172 active cases of the disease, with 45 people, including nine in ICU, receiving care in hospital.

Two of the latest four deaths came at Edmonton's Good Samaritan Southgate Care Centre, increasing the facility's death toll to 31. The continuing care home has three active cases of COVID-19 and 80 recoveries, Dr. Deena Hinshaw said.

The city of Edmonton has 567 active cases of the coronavirus and remains under Alberta Health's watch with an active case rate of 55.5 per 100,000 people.

Seventy-five of the city's active infections are connected to the outbreak at the Bible Pentecostal Church.

"Primarily, we're seeing growth in cases linked to gatherings: weddings, funerals, family reunions, prayer meetings, informal gatherings of friends, backyard parties and community groups," Hinshaw said of Edmonton's spike in cases.

"There has been a particularly high attack rate in family gatherings."

She suggests keeping gatherings small and to hold them outside if possible, washing hands, maintaining a physical distance and writing down a list of guests to make the following contact tracing easier.

Hinshaw also recommends taking chats between children and their grandparents back online once school starts up to prevent the spread of the disease to those most at risk of a severe outcome.

To date, Alberta has reported 13,006 cases of COVID-19 and 234 deaths.