During the May 15th Covid-19 update, Dr. Deena Hinshaw announced that outdoor gatherings may now visit in groups no bigger than 50 people as long a physical distancing is occurring. Sharing food and drinks is still not recommended. Indoor gatherings must not have more than 15 people. 

The doctor hopes Albertans will take extra precautions this weekend as many people will be travelling to enjoy their long weekend. 

“For those looking to get away at a summer cottage this weekend, respect the health and safety of small communities along the way by planning your trip without stops for gas or food where possible. We should continue to avoid non-essential travel across the province,” said Hinshaw. 

Following the long weekend, Dr. Hinshaw will be providing updates on a reduced schedule. 

“The pandemic is far from over; however, in consideration of the reduced number of cases overall and the fact that we have begun to resume operations under stage one of Alberta’s relaunch strategy. I made the recommendation to scale down the frequency of my availabilities.”

Next week’s availabilities will be on May 26th and May 28th following that they will be on June 1st,3rd, and 5th. If there is a significant event, an availability will be scheduled to disclose the information. 

May 15th new case numbers:

  • 58 new cases of the virus
  • 62 people are hospitalized with COVID-19
  • 9 people have been admitted to ICU’s with COVID-19
  • 1,073 active cases in Alberta
  • 5,317 total recovered cases
  • 4 deaths in the last 24 hours
  • 125 total deaths from the virus
  • 4,505 tests completed in the last 24 hours 
  • 204,723 tests have been performed in total

Central Alberta shows the following case numbers, available at alberta.ca:

  • City of Lacombe: 2 total cases
    • 0 active
    • 2 recovered
  • Lacombe County: 3 total cases
    • 0 active
    • 3 recovered
  • Red Deer County: 16 total cases
    • 4 active
    • 12 recovered
  • City of Red Deer: 37 total cases 
    • 2 active
    • 35 recovered 
  • Sylvan Lake: 3 total cases
    • 2 active cases
    • 1 recovered
  •  Ponoka County: 3 total cases
    • 1 active
    • 2 recovered
  • County of Wetaskiwin: 0 total cases
    • 0 active
    • 0 recovered
  • City of Wetaskiwin: 8 total cases
    • 0 active
    • 8 recovered
  • County of Stettler: 2 total cases
    • 0 active
    • 2 recovered
  • Mountain View County: 8 total cases
    • 2 active
    • 6 recovered