Alberta reports 49 new COVID-19 cases, one additional death

Alberta reported 49 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a day when Canada's total number of confirmed and presumptive cases surpassed 100,000.

Federal government testing nationwide contact-tracing app

CBC News · Posted: Jun 18, 2020 6:10 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 18, 2020

Alberta reports new COVID-19 cases and one additional death. (The Canadian Press/NIAID-RML via AP)

Alberta reported 49 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a day when Canada's total number of confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases surpassed 100,000.

One death was recorded in the province in the last 24 hours — a woman in her 80s from Edmonton zone who was not connected to a continuing-care facility.

Alberta's numbers remain stable almost one week into Stage 2 of the province's relaunch strategy allowing more businesses to reopen.

Earlier Thursday, the prime minister said as parts of the economy reopen across the country, the federal government will begin testing a voluntary nationwide contact-tracing app.

Testing and contact tracing "is crucial" to safely restore the economy, Justin Trudeau said in Ottawa.

Alberta introduced its contact-tracing mobile app ABTraceTogether on May 1.

Alberta app loses steam

At the time Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw called the app "a vital step in preventing further spread of the virus."

Hinshaw and other public health officials in Canada and around the world have repeatedly stressed that testing and contact tracing will play a vital role in efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus.

But while 103,000 people downloaded Alberta's mobile app in the first week, barely the same number of people have downloaded it in the six weeks since. To date the app currently has just over 207,000 registered users.

Alberta's COVID-19 tracking app is flawed but worth using, experts say

The province is doing better than most of its counterparts when it comes to testing.

Labs across the province have performed 364,729 tests since the pandemic began. Upwards of 6,000 people are tested each day and the province encourages everyone to go in for testing, whether they think they have been exposed to COVID-19 or not.

Should masks be mandatory?

'We, as a government, have no interest in mandatory masking'

4 years ago

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Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro says the provincial government has no interest in mandatory masking during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many health officials also consider the wearing of masks crucial to beating COVID-19, with some jurisdictions now making masks mandatory.

Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro said Thursday he has no interest in doing so.

A group of doctors wrote an open letter to the provincial government calling for masks to be mandatory in indoor spaces away from home, on public transit and in crowds.

But Shandro said he hasn't seen any evidence that masks need to be mandatory.

"I think that part of the reason that we've had such a good response to COVID-19 is because Albertans want to comply with our public health measures, and there has to be a buy-in by Albertans," Shandro said.