EDMONTON -- Alberta's chief medical officer of health is cautiously optimistic about the recent COVID-19 case totals after she reported 56 new infections Thursday.
"Today's case numbers continue a week-long trend of fewer than 100 new cases per day," Dr. Deena Hinshaw said.
Active infections are down to 1,107, with 76 patients in hospital and 19 of them in intensive care units.
Hinshaw also reported two more deaths — one of them at Good Samaritan Southgate Care Centre — increasing the total to 205.
Calgary's actives cases, now at 314, continue to decrease, but Edmonton continues to see a spike with a total of 300.
Beaver County is experiencing a spike in cases with 65 current infections.
"While the bulk of new cases continue to be found in Calgary and Edmonton, rural areas have also seen a significant number of cases identified."
Hinshaw said Albertans aged 20-29 continue to be the largest age group contracting the virus, but the growth rate has slowed "a little" and they have fewer close contacts than before.
Furthermore, Alberta Health has registered an uptick in household and neighbourhood clusters.
"The key message here is that everyone is still at risk of contracting COVID-19, even from family members and neighbours," Hinshaw said.
Alberta has reported 11,296 cases of COVID-19 and 9,984 recoveries to date.
