Active cases of COVID-19 continue their slow climb, with 512 as of Friday's update.

After around 9000 tests in the last 24 hours, 46 new cases were confirmed.

39 Albertans are being treated in hospital, with six in intensive care.

6961 recoveries have now been confirmed, and no additional deaths were reported.

Dr. Hinshaw addressed the province's recent increase in active cases.

"On Friday, June 5th, we had 339 active cases in the province. Today we have 512 active cases, with many of these occurring in the Edmonton and North zones. This means we have about 173 more active cases than there were two weeks ago."

She highlighted a few positive statistics from the last two weeks, namely the steady and low rate of hospitalizations, the fact that there are only 26 active cases in continuing care facilities, and the fact that many of the new active cases are from a known source, which will make it easier to track and stop the spread of those cases.

Dr. Hinshaw says many of these new cases have been tracked to community settings such as social events and apartment buildings, and that the use of masks and social distancing continues to be extremely important when it comes to preventing spread.

When asked about the possibility of making masks mandatory in public settings, Dr. Hinshaw says the province has been keeping a close eye on the data regarding masks, though at this time they're focusing on providing masks to Albertans while strongly recommending their usage.

"At the moment we are focusing on that encouragement and strong recommendation. It's not mandatory at this time from a legal perspective, however again we are encouraging all Albertans to do their part in preventing spread, and if a local municipality were to choose to create some of those requirements, for example on transit, that would absolutely be within their purview if they wished to do so."

To view the conference, click here.

For more information on COVID-19 in Alberta, click here.

 

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