Albertans are prohibited from attending any summer events of more than 15 people, Alberta's chief medical officer of health confirmed on Thursday.
These restrictions also require people gathered in groups of fewer than 15 people to maintain a two-metre distance between each other.
This comes after Edmonton's K-Days and Calgary's Stampede organizers announced the cancellation of both summer events earlier on Thursday.
While some organizers have taken it upon themselves to cancel, Dr. Deena Hinshaw clarified the restrictive measures during the daily update.
"This decision was not made lightly but we must do whatever we can to prevent the spread of COVID-19," Hinshaw said.
"We have seen that festivals and large gatherings hold the potential to be super spreader events, where one sick person can expose many others to the virus, spreading COVID-19 across households, communities, and even large geographical distances."
People with summer homes are also strongly advised not to travel there this summer.
"While we are all eager for a relaunch and wanting to see an easing on restrictions, now is not the time to have people moving through the province and possibly, unknowingly, spreading the virus."
- RELATED: St. Paul area records first active case of COVID-19
- INTERACTIVE MAP: See the latest COVID-19 statistics across Canada by province/territory on our interactive map
Hinshaw reminded Albertans that even with welcomed warmer weather, all public health orders still apply and will be enforced outside.
Though the virus "has taken many things from us," she said there are still ways people can enjoy their time outside in the sun.
Going for walks or bike rides, visiting parks and working in community gardens where these distancing measures are able to be kept are examples of safe options open to Albertans, she said.
"Albertans are an incredibly creative group of people, and we cannot provide a specific order or advice for every possible activity under the sun. I would ask all Albertans to use their common sense and apply these public health measures to whatever they are doing, inside or out."
Latest numbers
Alberta has seen an additional 319 confirmed infections over the last 24 hours, bringing the provincial total of COVID-19 cases to 3,720. Forty-seven more people have recovered from the virus since yesterday, adding to the current 1,357 total.
One of the new cases reported is a worker from Sofina Foods in the Calgary Zone. This is the only identified case there to date, and is not considered an outbreak, Hinshaw said.
"AHS is working with the plant to ensure prevention measures are in place, and plant operations have slowed due to the number of staff currently on isolation. AHS is offering testing to all employees, even those without symptoms."
Hinshaw confirmed the deaths of two people in Brooks announced on Wednesday were related to COVID-19. One individual was a worker at the JBS meat plant, which has had 124 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday afternoon.
To date, 68 people have died from the virus in the province.
There have been 31 cases of COVID-19 reported in Rocky View County as of Thursday afternoon and 15 cases reported in the Cochrane-Springbank region.
"My thoughts are with all of those families and individuals who are suffering from COVID-19. We continue to do everything possible to limit the spread of COVID-19 and protect the public health," Hinshaw said.
"Some of my biggest concerns at this time are outbreaks at continuing care facilities, and outbreaks at High River and Brooks."
The JBS meat plant saw an increase of 28 new cases with employees and contractors over the last 24 hours. The Cargill meat packing plant in High River has now reported 480 total cases.
As of Thursday afternoon, there have been 390 cases of COVID-19 in continuing care facilities across Alberta.
"I know these numbers can be alarming. We are working to ensure that every outbreak has aggressive intervention as soon as it is identified, so it can end as soon as possible," Hinshaw said.
"Unfortunately, the long incubation period of COVID-19 means we will continue to see new cases in the days ahead, as exposures that happened before outbreak measures were put in place can continue to result in new cases for up to two weeks."
Effective immediately, community specialists are able to order personal protective equipment (PPE) for their clinics through their AHS zones point of contact. The hope is this new process will make sure all clinicians who need PPE have easy access to it, she said.
"In the face of a pandemic like COVID, equipment and technology are essential, but so is community and kindness. We have come so far together and we can stay the course if we lean on each other. With solidarity, generosity and community, we will overcome this together."
Contact tracing app
In an effort to get a faster understanding of potential exposure, the province announced a new contact tracing app is in its final stages.
"It will speed up contact tracing that health officials undertake when someone tests positive for the virus."
This app uses Bluetooth to note whether you've come into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, but does not track Albertans' geographic locations. The app has been used effectively in Singapore and South Korea, Hinshaw said.
"The benefit of this app is speeding up information gathering to support the contact tracing work our public health workers are already doing. This is simply taking our decades-old public health approach into the 21st Century, and providing more efficient means for Albertans to work with public health in tracing contacts of cases."
Albertans will have the choice whether to download the app, as it's completely voluntary, Hinshaw said. Information collected is stored on people's personal phones, not with the government. No concerns about the app have been raised by Alberta's Privacy Commissioner, she added.
The app is expected to be available to all Albertans in the coming weeks.
