Calgary, Brooks will see a gradual reopening as part of the Alberta relaunch strategy

EDMONTON (660 NEWS) – During Wednesday’s daily COVID-19 update, Premier Jason Kenney said the province will be moving ahead with phase one of Alberta’s Relaunch Strategy.

Stage one includes the reopening of retail businesses, museums, daycares, and out of school childcare with limited occupancy.

However, Kenney said the province will be taking a gradual reopening approach because new cases of COVID-19 continue to pop up in the province every day. On that note, Calgary and Brooks have been hit the hardest.

“Together, they count for three-quarters of Alberta’s current COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations,” said Kenney.

With the higher case numbers in Calgary and Brooks, some businesses such as bars, restaurants, hair salons, and barbershops will not be opening Thursday and instead will be reopening no earlier than May 25.

The rest of the province will reopen as planned.

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Starting on June 1, day camps, summer schools with limited students and post-secondary institutions for in-person or online course delivery will be able to proceed in Calgary and Brooks.

“Our fight against COVID is going in the right direction across the province and in Calgary and Brooks,” said Kenney.

Kenney said if the province manages to handle stage one successfully, stages two and three will come quicker.

Stage two could happen as early as June 19.

Following the relaunch update, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw confirmed 62 new COVID-19 cases.

NEW:

– 62 new cases in Alberta on 4,072 tests

– 70 hospitalizations- 11 in ICU

– 5,766 recovered, 1211 active#yeg #yyc #ableg

— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) May 13, 2020

She says there are 1,211 active cases and 5,076 people have recovered.

Seventy people are in hospital, 11 of which are in the ICU.

According to the province’s website, there are two additional deaths, however, no details were provided during the press conference.

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Hinshaw also announced an outbreak at the Horizon Work Camp that is operated by Canadian Natural Resources.

“There have been five confirmed cases linked to the camp and the operator is working closely with Alberta Health Services to limit the spread.”

WATCH: Premier Jason Kenney and Dr. Deena Hinshaw provide daily COVID-19 and Relaunch Strategy update

“We are announcing this outbreak today (Wednesday) as it has met the threshold of five cases when there are one or two cases at a particular worksite that isn’t considered to be proof of transmission at that worksite, and therefore the public disclosure does wait until five cases where it does seem there has been onsite transmission,” said Hinshaw.

Hinshaw added testing is being offered to all employees, even those who are not showing symptoms.