Chief Medical Officer of Health, Doctor Deena Hinshaw announced new voluntary measures of COVID-19 safety for the City of Edmonton. The city holds the majority of the cases in Alberta and of the 364 cases identified in Alberta on October 7th, 276 of those new cases belong to Edmonton.

“These measures are voluntary because we still have sufficient hospital beds and capacity to meet the current needs in Edmonton but we are moving forward with them because it is important to use our current data as a call to action,” said Hinshaw.

The first measure is to limit all family and private social gathering to no more than 15 people.

 “Second, I am recommending that masks should be worn in all indoor work settings, except when alone in work spaces such as cubicles or offices where you can be distanced from others or when an appropriate barrier is in place,” explained Hinshaw.

The third measure is to limit your number of cohort groups down to three. Hinshaw said she would like to see Edmontonians limit their cohort groups including, work cohorts, school cohorts, sport cohorts and others down to only three separate groups.

Heading into the Thanksgiving weekend, Doctor Hinshaw is urging Albertans to think twice about their usual holiday activities.  

 “I especially caution Albertans against planning large get-togethers this weekend. Now is not the time to be gathering in large groups, travelling long distances for the holiday, or sharing food or utensils with people outside your cohort,” added Hinshaw.

New case numbers as of October 8th, 2020:

  • 364 new cases have been identified in the last 24 hours
  • 2,097 active cases in Alberta
  • 77 people are hospitalized with COVID-19
  • 13 people are currently in ICUs
  • 17,338 total recovered cases
  • 2 new deaths
  • 283 total deaths from the virus 
  • 1,095,515 tests have been performed in total 

Active case numbers in Central Alberta area:

  • 2 active cases in Lacombe County
  • 3 active case in the City of Lacombe
  • 7 active cases in the City of Red Deer
  • 2 active cases in Red Deer County
  • 12 active cases in Ponoka County
  • 1 active cases in the Town of Sylvan Lake
  • 2 active cases in Stettler County
  • 5 active case in Mountain View County

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