The active total of COVID-19 cases is continuing to rise in Fort McMurray and the rural areas.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, announced on Friday 1,227 new cases across the province.

This raises the provincial total to 53,105 with 14,217 currently active. There are also 405 Albertans in the hospital for the virus, 86 of which are in ICUs.

Locally, Fort McMurray saw 14 new cases and eight additional recoveries which raises the active total to 185.

The rural areas also added one more COVID-19 case which puts the total of active cases at 29.

In total, 573 individuals across the RMWB – 500 in Fort McMurray and 73 in the rural areas – have recovered.

They are among the 38,369 who’ve recovered across the province. This represents over 72 per cent of reported cases.

There were also nine new deaths from COVID-19 in Alberta over the past day – raising the total to 519.

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

School Update

Father Mercredi is now the first school in the RMWB being put on the province’s COVID-19 watch list.

This is due to five individuals with ties to the school testing positive for the virus.

Outbreaks are declared when there are between two and four cases with schools being put on the watch list when they five or more cases.

Superintendent of the Fort McMurray Catholic School District George McGuigan says all of the cases were through community transmission.

He adds they believe Father Mercredi will be removed from the list soon as students temporarily return to online learning starting next week.