Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health says the Amazon Fulfillment Centre at Balzac is the province's latest COVID-19 outbreak area.

In her regular daily update on the virus Friday (May 1), Dr. Deena Hinshaw says Alberta Health Services declared the facility as an outbreak and that additional measures have now been put into place to prevent the spread of the virus. "Five cases have now been reported at that facility," says Hinshaw, "although it is not yet clear if all five are linked with a common exposure."

Hinshaw took time to express her thanks to all the front-line public health-care professionals who are responding to all the outbreaks in the province. At the Cargill meatpacking plant in High River there have now been 921 cases, while 390 cases have been confirmed at the JBS plant in Brooks.

Hinshaw says in the past two weeks alone, the professionals have done some remarkable work. "These teams have called every household with a Cargill worker, have tested every client who stayed in one of the shelters where a COVID case has been confirmed, have offered large volume testing to residents of Brooks over three days earlier this week, and have continued to do the regular, daily work of case follow-up and contact tracing that is the backbone of our ability to prevent spread of this virus."