Alberta chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw updates media on the COVID-19 situation in Edmonton on Friday March 20, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Alberta has 162 new cases of COVID-19, the highest single day report to date, and two more residents in long term care homes have died.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province's chief medical officer of health, says one of the victims was a resident in the Manoir du Lac retirement home in northern Alberta and the other was in a care centre in High River.
50 people in Alberta have died so far from the novel coronavirus, and the total number of cases has reached 2,158.
The deaths include 32 residents in care centres, and officials have been tracking outbreaks in 22 of these facilities.
Officials are also tracking outbreaks at the Kearl oilsands work camp north of Fort McMurray and at the Cargill meat packing plant in High River.
Hinshaw said the province's data collection centre had a small electrical fire earlier this week and that has delayed getting detailed breakdowns of those outbreaks.