EDMONTON -- Two seniors living at an Edmonton retirement home that is the first in the province to be dealing with a COVID-19 variant outbreak have died from the disease.

Case numbers at Churchill Manor have also increased by more than two dozen in a matter of days, according to Alberta Health.

What had been 31 cases on Friday was 60 cases as of Tuesday, the department said. 

"We've also received the results from yesterday's round of full community testing with Alberta Health Services," a March 9 letter from operator Atria Senior Living – shared with CTV News Edmonton by a family – read.

"We learned that six additional residents have tested positive for COVID-19. These residents are all currently in the community, where they are receiving care, as needed, from AHS support staff."

The company says in total, 55 residents and 12 employees have been infected.

A week ago, more than half of the home's active COVID-19 cases were the B.1.1.7 variant first discovered in the United Kingdom.

The outbreak was Alberta's first COVID-19 variant outbreak at a retirement home.

This is a developing news story. More to come…