St. Albert added 18 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of St. Albertans currently battling the virus to 149 – the highest amount the city has seen so far.
That's up from Monday's high yesterday of 138 cases. The city added another 18 cases overnight, and seven more people recovered.
St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron said she wants to see the province take more responsibility to curb transmission.
Heron will be participating with other Alberta municipalities in a townhall meeting with Premier Jason Kenney, Minister of Municipal Affairs Tracy Allard, and Dr. Deena Hinshaw on Wednesday to talk about restrictions.
"The province has the experts in the healthcare system, they need to lead on (further restrictions). But I would say that what they're doing is not working."
With COVID-19 numbers surging and the provincial government trying to introduce measures to control the spread, Heron said she was frustrated that municipalities were given little notice about the recent restrictions that were announced last Thursday, which forced the cancellation of registered and drop-in fitness, recreation and aquatics programs until Nov. 27.
"It was really difficult for (administration) to find out Thursday afternoon that we were closing down Servus Place on Friday. It's ridiculous," she said. "Once again, they're not working in partnership with municipalities."
With restrictions expected to take effect the next day, Heron said residents told her they were also confused about what activities the province considered safe.
"Really, what's the difference between school academy hockey practice and a St. Albert minor hockey practise? It's just so confusing, and it really makes no sense."
Alberta COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the province and on Tuesday afternoon the province released new COVID-19 data showing another 773 cases diagnosed in the past 24 hours. Five more Albertans passed away overnight, bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths up to 432.
Some 268 people are in the hospital, an increase of four from Monday and 57 people remain in ICU.
Overall there are 10,068 active cases in the province.
Tuesday’s numbers come on the heels of Alberta’s most grim day of the pandemic, with 20 deaths in 24 hours. Over the weekend, COVID-19 diagnoses hit a new peak with 1,026 cases announced on Saturday, a record high for the province, and 991 cases diagnosed on Sunday.
Sturgeon County has 47 active cases and Morinville has 22 active cases.
Jennifer Henderson is the Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for Great West Newspapers, covering rural Alberta issues.
