Alberta will now only report COVID-19 outbreaks in high-risk settings

Alberta is scaling back which COVID-19 outbreaks it will report due to rising case counts and the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

Starting Friday, only outbreaks in acute and continuing care facilities will be reported by the province.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw took to Twitter Thursday to lay out the province's decision saying "this approach is in line with what other provinces are doing given the dramatic rise in cases."

Outbreaks at schools and workplaces will no longer be updated on the province's website as Alberta Health Services (AHS) focuses its resources on investigating high-risk settings.

"We encourage workplaces to continue to follow COVID prevention practices & to have processes to make sure employees can stay home when sick, even if they have minor symptoms," said Dr. Hinshaw.

Alberta has seen two of the largest outbreaks in the country since the beginning of the pandemic.

In spring 2021, an oilsands site near Fort McMurray saw more than 1,300 positive cases.

The Cargill meat packing plant near High River also had roughly 1,000 cases in 2020.

More than 80 continuing care homes in the Calgary Zone are currently on outbreak status, as at least two cases are linked to each facility.

In total, 31 long-term care homes and 52 supportive living facilities have outbreaks.

There are currently more than 62,000 active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta.