Four more people tested positive for COVID-19 in St. Albert on Thursday, bringing the number of active cases in the city to 10 people.
That's a relatively big jump considering St. Albert recorded zero cases on Aug. 4. Six days later, the city recorded one new case; the next day, the city saw two more; and three more were confirmed after that.
This latest increase means the city's overall case count has jumped from 41 to 51 positive cases overall in the span of nine days. Forty people have recovered from the virus, and one person has died.
Mayor Cathy Heron, who has been providing regular updates on the city's viral case count, called the increase a "big jump" on Thursday. COVID-19 has about a two-week incubation period, so the August long weekend could have played a role in the increase in cases and "likely some relaxation in our diligence," she noted.
"Don't let your guard down yet folks," Heron wrote.
On Thursday, Aug. 13, Alberta recorded 76 additional cases, and the total number of active cases is now at 1,036, according to the province. To date, 1,910 cases have unknown exposure.
The Edmonton zone has 428 of the total active cases in the province with northeastern Edmonton at 121 active cases, the highest number of cases in the city.
“What we know right now from the most recent cases, is they do continue to be in a younger age group,” said Dr. Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health, in a press briefing Wednesday.
“In northeast Edmonton, 77 per cent of cases are under the age of 40. We also see our median age in all of Edmonton as 30 years old."
Three additional deaths were reported by the province on Thursday, bringing the total number of people who have died from the virus to 220 people.
The next update of active cases in the province will be on Aug. 18.
