An additional 150 cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Alberta on Tuesday. There have now been 16,889 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Alberta Health released the updated numbers Tuesday afternoon.
The province also confirmed another two deaths, bringing the provincial death toll to 258. On Tuesday, Alberta Health said a man in his 90s from the Edmonton zone and a man in his 80s from Calgary zone had both died.
The man from the Calgary zone was linked to a COVID-19 outbreak at Wentworth Manor, Alberta Health said.
Alberta Health Services confirmed another death linked to the outbreak at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary.
The province has said there is usually a bit of a delay in reporting, but some facilities with outbreaks report their own numbers. The Foothills death should show up in Alberta Health’s numbers in the coming days.
As of Tuesday, the province was reporting 1,565 active cases across the province. There were 485 in the Calgary zone, 820 in the Edmonton zone, 24 in the Central zone, 41 in the South zone and 188 in the North zone. There were seven active cases not associated to a specific zone Tuesday.
Across the province, there were 51 people in hospital with nine of those people in the ICU.
To date, 1,229,939 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Alberta.
On Tuesday, Canada’s top doctor warned the country is at a crossroads when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Theresa Tam said because daily reporting numbers only catch transmission in the past, Tam warned that actions taken now are essential to keep the virus under control.
“The only way to achieve strong control of COVID-19 and prevent the virus from surging into an uncontrollable growth trajectory is for public health authorities and the public to work together,” Tam said.
New modelling presented by Tam said, if Canadians maintain their current rates of contacts, the epidemic is forecast to resurge to over 5,000 reported cases per day in October. But, if Canadians decrease the current contact rate, the pandemic could come under control in most locations.
– With files from Katie Dangerfield, Global News