Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw noted that Alberta’s numbers have remained low during the May 21st COVID-19 update.

“Should we continue to see these encouraging results we are hopeful that we will be able to move forward with gradual reopening in Calgary and Brooks. However, progress on our relaunch plan continues to depend on our collective ability to keep infection rates low as we begin to relax public health measures,” said Dr. Hinshaw. 

Calgary and Brooks have not been permitted to relaunch stage one because their case numbers were higher than the rest of Alberta in the past. On May 25th hairstyling, barbershops, cafes, restaurants, pubs, and bars are permitted to reopen for service at 50 per cent. On June 1st, Calgary and Brooks should be able to allow worship and funeral services, day camps, and summer camps with limited occupancy. 

Dr. Hinshaw also addressed some confusion involving the reopening of playgrounds. 

“There would be some risk potentially of using playgrounds. We are not requiring that owners of playgrounds whether that’s schools or municipalities to clean and disinfect playgrounds rather what we are doing is providing the advice and guidance to parents about how they can reduce risk of using playgrounds and making sure that they’re aware of measures that they can take and then assessing what risks they are willing to take with respect to their family and their kids,” said Hinshaw. 

To find Alberta Government recommendations regarding playgrounds, click here.  To read more about this update, click here. 

The next Government of Alberta COVID-19 availability will be on Monday, May 25th. 

May 21st new case numbers:

  • 33 new cases of the virus
  • 59 people are hospitalized with COVID-19
  • 6 people have been admitted to ICU’s with COVID-19
  • 926 active cases in Alberta
  • 5,710 total recovered cases
  • 4 new deaths in the last 24 hours
  • 132 total deaths from the virus
  • 4,017 tests completed in the last 24 hours 
  • 225,588 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
    • 1 active
    • 15 recovered
  • City of Red Deer: 37 total cases 
    • 2 active
    • 35 recovered 
  • Sylvan Lake: 3 total cases
    • 0 active cases
    • 3 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: 9 total cases
    • 2 active
    • 7 recovered