There are 138 new cases of COVID-19 in Alberta, bringing the provincial total to 1,870.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, announced the latest statistics at the provincial government’s daily press conference Tuesday afternoon.
Hinshaw said there were two additional deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 48 in the province.
The central zone reported no new cases on Tuesday and still has 74.
Red Deer still sits at 32 cases, with 11 active and 21 recovered. Red Deer County has 12 cases, four active and eight recovered.
Lacombe County has four cases, all of which are listed as recovered on the Alberta Health website. Ponoka County and Camrose County each had one case and one recovery.
In Monday’s update, the province reported 1,732 total cases, 81 of which were new cases, with 877 recovered and 254 a result of community spread.
Tuesday, most of the new cases were in the Calgary zone and partially due to increased testing. There are 914 recovered cases, up 37 from Monday. There was close to 3,000 tests conducted in the past 24 hours.
“While we are seeing a steady rise in recovered cases, we should also expect to see a rise of cases in the coming days, as a result of expanded testing,” Hinshaw said.
The Calgary zone has 1,242 cases, up from 1,114 on Monday, with two more deaths at the McKenzie Towne Continuing Care Centre and 33 total deaths. Calgary currently accounts for 66 per cent of the provincial total number of cases.
“The per cent positivity is slightly higher. We have been seeing an upward trend in Calgary, that we’re keeping a really close eye on. We reported 138 (new) cases (Tuesday), that confirms probable and lab-confirmed, and 128 are in Calgary,” Hinshaw said.
“We are watching that very closely and I expect we will have more data available by the end of the week to understand what’s happening in that area and why there’s that higher positivity rate.”
The government of Alberta has announced $3 million in funding for Caregivers Alberta to expand support during the pandemic and down the road.
“Caregivers are essential to the well-being and quality of life of over one million Albertans,” said Health Minister Tyler Shandro.
“This is particularly true as we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding to increase supports for caregivers is part of our government’s commitment to ensure that all Albertans are taken care of – during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.”
The funding will go toward a public awareness campaign on the importance of caregivers and expanding the hours of the caregiver adviser phone line and referral system to link caregivers and Caregivers Alberta.