Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said on Thursday that AHS is looking to hire more staff to keep up the demand for testing at local assessment centres, and they are looking at more ways for people to access testing. 

On that note, she announced that local pharmacies will be able to opt-in if they want to be able to conduct asymptomatic testing within their facilities. 

Dr. Hinshaw said the pilot project was a success, with "more than 10,000 people safely tested at the pilot pharmacies last month."

A list of pharmacies that opt-in to the program will be available through the Alberta Blue Cross website.

Dr. Hinshaw also provided updates on serology studies, which provide information on a person's antibodies to COVID, which may help to understand the total amount of people infected with COVID-19, even if they had no symptoms. 

"Serology detects antibodies in the blood from covid 19. This can help us understand how many people were previously infected with COVID-19. It does not tell if someone is currently sick, and a positive serology test doesn't guarantee immunity from the virus."

Finally, with the long weekend coming up, Hinshaw reminded people that they can go camping, go to restaurants and spend time with friends and family, as long as they are following recommended health protocols such as physical distancing, proper hand hygiene and wearing masks if they are gathering indoors where distancing is not feasible.

"Careless behaviour today can lead to sharp increases this week, or the week after," she said, but encouraged residents to have a fun, safe and socially conscious August long weekend.

New case numbers as of July 30th, 2020

  • 113 new cases of the virus in the last 24 hours
  • 1,408 active cases in Alberta
  • 91 people are hospitalized with COVID-19
  • 18 people are currently in ICUs
  • 9,113 total recovered cases
  • 195 total deaths from the virus ( in the last 24 hours)
  • 676,913 tests have been performed in total 

Alberta.ca shows the following active cases in the Central Alberta area: 

In total, there are 175 active cases in the Central Zone

  • 8 active cases in the county of Lacombe
  • 1 active case in City of Lacombe
  • 7 active cases in the county of Red Deer
  • 11 active cases in the city of Red Deer 
  • 3 active case in the county of Ponoka
  • 5 active cases in the Town of Sylvan Lake
  • 24 active case in the county of Stettler 
  • 1 active case in the county of Mountain View 

*Not all cases in the Central Zone have been included.

To view the geospatial map of Alberta, click here.