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Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw will provide an update on COVID-19 in the province Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday, Hinshaw strongly warned against interprovincial travel as 479 new cases of COVID-19 and 50 more cases of highly-contagious variants of concern were reported. In total, 1,097 cases of variants have been identified.
About 11 per cent of the province’s 4,918 active cases are variants. Hinshaw said the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the U.K. has become established in the community and is spreading in all zones in the province.
Hinshaw recommended staying close to home over March break and doing activities such as outdoor social gatherings where distance can be maintained.
“We are at a very important time right now where we are seeing variant cases spread,” she said. “We haven’t yet reached our vaccination coverage that we need to prevent severe outcomes and so for the next couple of months, including spring break, we need to just hold on and protect our communities with our choices.”
Hinshaw will speak at 3:30 p.m.
More to come
For more on Alberta’s vaccine rollout, read our guide driven by reader questions.
