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Spike in Alberta COVID-19 cases in younger people cause for concern: Hinshaw

Click to play video: 'COVID-19 cases on the rise among young Albertans'
COVID-19 cases on the rise among young Albertans
WATCH: Alberta officials are expressing concern after an uptick in the number of coronavirus cases in people under the age of 40. As Jenna Freeman reports, some are worried it could send us back into lockdown – Jul 15, 2020

The Alberta government reported that more people under the age of 40 have contracted the novel coronavirus in the last two weeks.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw said Tuesday — in her latest update — that of 780 new COVID-19 cases identified in the past two weeks, 57 per cent fall into the category of younger people.

“Of these, 30 per cent have not yet been linked to any known source,” she said.

Gordon and Kathleen Conrod visited Calgary from Edmonton and said that 17 Avenue, which is a strip of restaurants, bars and shops, was hard to navigate responsibly.

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“We’ve seen young people walking in larger groups, walking four or five on the sidewalk making it hard to socially distance,” Kathleen said.

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Her husband said he hoped that the new numbers won’t mean that the province will have to lock down restaurants and services again.

“We’ve kind of all put in a lot of effort into reaching the state we are,” Gordon said.

Hinshaw said it’s an important reminder that people still need to socially distance and practise good hygiene.

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