The active total of COVID-19 cases in Fort McMurray and the rural areas is slightly dropping.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, announced on Thursday 364 new cases over the past day across Alberta.

There are currently 4,488 active cases across Alberta, while there have been a total of 137,137 positive tests. There are also 259 Albertans in the hospital for the virus, 38 of which are in ICUs.

Locally, Fort McMurray added one new case and two recoveries which lowers the active total to 12.

The rural areas also added one recovery in the past 24 hours, putting the total of active cases at three.

There continue to be no active cases in Wood Buffalo National Park.

In total, 1,894 individuals across the RMWB – 1,752 in Fort McMurray, 133 in the rural areas, and nine in Wood Buffalo National Park – have recovered.

They are among the 130,716 who’ve recovered across the province. This represents just over 95 per cent of reported cases.

There were also five new deaths from COVID-19 in Alberta over the past 24 hours – raising the total to 1,933.

To date, three individuals in Fort McMurray have died as a result of the virus.

School Pilot Project

The province is trying a new rapid testing project at two Calgary schools.

Starting next week, crews will be stationed at both locations where they’ll test asymptomatic staff and students.

It’s aimed at helping schools where an outbreak has been declared, allowing health officials to determine the risk of the virus on the rest of the school population.

Th project will be reviewed in around three weeks to determine whether it’s efficient enough to be used at other schools across the province.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Tyler Shandro announced they’re sending out over 900,000 rapid tests across the province.

Around 100,000 are being used on the school project, while roughly 325,000 will be given to Suncor, Syncrude, and CNRL.