Alberta Health reports 69 new COVID-19 cases, bringing provincial total to 1,250

Alberta Health confirmed Sunday that there are 69 new COVID-19 cases in the province, bringing the total to 1,250.

Deaths

Officials said there are three new fatalities from the virus, bringing the Alberta death toll to 23: a man in his 60s in the Calgary zone, a woman in her 80s in the Central zone and a man who was more than 100 in the North zone.

As it stands, according to Alberta Health, there were 14 deaths in the Calgary zone, four in the Edmonton zone, four in the North zone and one in the Central zone.

Cases

The province said 919 cases are laboratory confirmed, and 331 are probable cases.

Here is a breakdown of cases across Alberta:

• 774 cases in the Calgary zone
• 309 cases in the Edmonton zone
• 67 cases in the Central zone
• 77 cases in the North zone
• 20 cases in the South zone
• Three cases in yet-to-be-confirmed zones

Of these cases, there are currently 48 people in hospital, of which 13 have been admitted to intensive care units, Alberta Health said.

Of the 1,250 total cases, 152 are suspected of being community acquired, the province said.

Alberta Health said 279 people have recovered from the virus.

Across the province, there have been 106 COVID-19 cases at continuing care facilities.

Expanded testing criteria

Alberta Health Services has expanded its testing criteria for COVID-19 to include symptomatic individuals like group home and shelter workers, first responders, people involved in COVID-19 enforcement and
correctional facility staff, Alberta Health said.

Symptomatic people who have been hospitalized with respiratory illnesses, residents of continuing care and health-care workers with respiratory symptoms ​were already prioritized for testing. Anyone with symptoms outside these categories is required to stay home and self-isolate for at least 10 days, according to Alberta Health Services.