Today Alberta is reporting 113 new cases of COVID-19 from 8,670 tests in the last 24 hours. There are now 1,408 active cases and 9,113 recoveries, 130 of which are new. 

There’s been one new case identified in the City of Grande Prairie, while two have recovered in the County. There are nine active and 24 recovered in the City, with six active and 15 recovered in the County. 

The MD of Greenview has one new for five active and two recoveries. Birch Hills County has had one recovery, leaving one active and two recoveries. Clear Hills County has had two more recoveries, leaving just four active and 20 recovered. The County of Northern Lights has had a recovery as well, with one active and four recovered.  Mackenzie County has 12 new cases and five more people have recovered. They have 64 active, 80 recoveries and one death.

Currently, 91 people are in the hospital with 18 of these in intensive care. There have been five new deaths, all of which were from the outbreak at the Good Samaritan Southgate Care Centre in Edmonton. There have been 21 deaths connected to the site and 195 in the province.

In her update today, Dr. Hinshaw corrected her earlier statement that AHS had taken over daily operations at Good Samaritan. They have not taken over but are working closely with the facility and have nursing and management staff on site. All outbreak measures are in place.  

Dr. Hinshaw also announced today that asymptomatic testing is now being expanded to all community pharmacies. This started as a pilot project last month in some locations. She says the project was a success and more than 1,000 people were tested.  

Any community pharmacy that wants to and can follow the safety protocols can now apply for enrollment to the program. This is voluntary and can take a few weeks for the enrollment process and pharmacies to receive the needed supplies.  

There is a list online of all pharmacies that are offering testing on the Alberta Blue Cross website. The list will be updated frequently as pharmacies are added. 

Only those with no symptoms or known exposure can receive testing at their pharmacy. If these are true of someone, they should still arrange for testing online through AHS. 

Watch the full update here: