EDMONTON -- Dr. Deena Hinshaw reported 24 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday as Alberta Health Services expanded testing to everyone in the province.
There are currently 616 actives cases of the coronavirus in Alberta, with 55 of them receiving care in hospital.
There were no deaths as a result of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.
- Infographics: COVID-19 in Alberta by the numbers
- This is what we know about Alberta's COVID-19 cases
- More at Edmonton.ctvnews.ca/coronavirus
Alberta has had a total of 6,979 COVID-19 cases and 143 deaths since March.
With the 3,754 tests in the past 24 hours, Alberta Health Services surpassed the 250,000 test-mark since the pandemic began.
"This is a remarkable achievement and a testament to the tireless efforts of our public health systems," the chief medical officer of health said.
Effectively immediately, AHS has expanded testing to everyone in the province whether they have COVID-19 symptoms or not.
"This will help provide data to further understand the impacts of moving to Stage 2 of Alberta's relaunch strategy," Hinshaw said. "Expanded testing will also help us understand where there might be undetected positive cases and therefore prevent further spread of the virus."
Stage 2 is tentatively scheduled to start on June 19.
Correction:
This article previously stated Alberta had reported 22 new and 612 active cases of COVID-19. The province adjusted the numbers to 24 new and 616 active cases.
