The number of St. Albertans currently diagnosed with COVID-19 grew to 124 cases over the weekend, marking the first time the city's active case count has risen above 100.
This represents an increase of 33 people from Friday, Oct. 23. A total of 269 St. Albertans have been confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 to date. Of those, 143 people have recovered. Two people have died.
The province reported 1,440 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend, including a record 572 cases reported on Saturday. With this increase, Alberta announced on Monday new mandatory limits on gatherings of up to 15 people in Edmonton and Calgary.
"I don't ask that you fear COVID-19, but that you respect it. COVID is a novel disease that is not just the flu – it has the ability to overwhelm our health system and weaken essential services if we let it do so," said Dr. Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health, during Monday's update.
"Respecting COVID-19 means taking public health advice seriously, and not only taking care of ourselves, but also our communities by preventing transmission,"
There are currently 4,477 active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta. Of those, 2,179 active cases are recorded in the Edmonton zone. To date, 20,949 Albertans have recovered from COVID-19.
There are 118 people in hospital due to COVID-19, including 16 in intensive care. There were seven additional deaths reported since Oct. 23.
There are 276 active cases and 1,306 recovered cases at continuing care facilities. Of those, 186 residents have died.
Over the last two weeks in Edmonton and Calgary, social gatherings made up just 15 per cent of all outbreaks, but almost a third of all outbreak-related cases, Hinshaw said. Meanwhile, workplace outbreaks made up about 15 per cent of outbreaks and outbreak-related cases.
Just six per cent of all COVID-19 cases in those aged 5 to 19 since Sept. 1 have been acquired at school, Hinshaw said. This indicates schools are not a main driver of community transmission, but rising community transmission is resulting in more school exposures, she said.
Hinshaw said the province is in a "crucial" stage right now to reduce the rate of growth of COVID-19 cases.
"You have heard me say many times that we need to achieve a balance between minimizing the risk of COVID-19 and minimizing the risk of harms of restrictions," she said.
"This requires us to keep the spread of COVID-19 manageable. We have now crossed a tipping point and are losing the balance we have been seeking. This weekend's COVID-19 numbers tell the story clearly. We identified on average 480 cases of COVID-19 per day over the weekend."
