CALGARY -- After a week of announcements shutting down most of daily life in the province, today Dr. Deena Hinshaw asked people to do more.

“We will get through this,” said the Alberta chief medical officer during her Thursday briefing. “But to do that we need everyone’s help to take this seriously.”

“Stay home unless it is essential for you to go out.”

Her plea comes just a day after a new report from the U.S. Centre for Disease Control (CDC) showed a sharp rise in the number of people under the age of 44 requiring hospitalization.

Of all known COVID-19 cases requiring hospital care, 20 per cent were between 20 and 44 years old. That same demographic also made up 12 per cent of ICU admissions.

In total, people aged 64 and younger made up 48 per cent of COVID-19 cases requiring a stay in ICU.

At The Better Butcher on Heritage Drive S.E., customers are no longer allowed into the store. Instead, they are asked to phone in their order and staff will run out and leave it on the hood of their car.

“We’re just trying to keep the public safe by not letting a whole bunch of crowds into our store,” said owner Randy Hnatuk.

Hnatuk is immunocompromised following a kidney transplant last year. He said people need to take staying away from others more seriously.

“We’ve had a few people phone in and place an order and they just got back from travel,” he said. It makes him nervous.

“They didn’t bother containing themselves for 14 days,” he said. “They just decided they needed groceries before they did it.”

People infected with the virus often do not show symptoms for 14 days after they are first exposed, spreading it unknowingly to others, including those with underlying health conditions.

Alberta recorded its first fatality from COVID-19 on Thursday. He was a man in his 60’s in the Edmonton region who had other health issues.

While overall fatality rates vary widely, a key factor is the ability of a country’s health care system to handle the peak number of cases. So far Italy has been hardest hit by the pandemic, reaching 3,405 deaths on Thursday, surpassing China.

Italy currently has more than 41,000 cases of COVID-19. On March 1 the total was 240.

As of Thursday evening Alberta had 146 known active cases.