On Friday, March 13, 2020, The Alberta government held a press conference that outlined several new updates on the COVID-19 situation in the province.

Six new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Alberta, all of which are travel-related. Five of the new cases are in the Calgary zone, which includes Cochrane.

It was announced that publicly funded schools in the province are to remain open for the time being. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Chief Medical Officer of Health says that students should not be worried about attending class. “I understand and appreciate many Albertans are concerned about their children and the risk of COVID-19. Students should not be worried about attending class at this time. However, I encourage school boards to take these precautions and remind your staff and students about the personal steps they too can take to protect themselves from COVID-19.”

Albertans have been encouraged to call Health Link if they experienced COVID-19 symptoms, which continues to experience high call volumes, receiving more than 6,300 calls daily. Health Link has increased staffing to deal with the volume of calls and has developed an online assessment tool to help Albertans determine if they need testing.

Albertans can help call volumes by:

  • visiting alberta.ca/COVID19 for information if you don’t have symptoms or need a health assessment.

  • calling Health Link during non-peak times

  • not calling Health Link if you are awaiting COVID-19 test results. If you’ve been tested for COVID-19, you will be called directly with your test results