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With two more deaths due to the ongoing pandemic, Alberta’s top doctor said Tuesday that public health measures meant to contain the spread of COVID-19 will remain in place for months to come.

There were 187 new cases of COVID-19 reported Tuesday, bringing the total number of novel coronavirus cases in Alberta since the outbreak began has reached 3,095, with 61 fatalities, chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said in her daily briefing.

But as the province navigates its second month since Alberta’s first case of the virus was confirmed, Hinshaw said “getting back to a normal routine” is still some time away.

“I, too, want to get back to normal as soon as possible,” she said.

“The challenge we are facing is that in some ways, we’re a victim of our own success. We have collectively pulled together to reduce the spread of this virus and to a large measure we have succeeded.”

But Albertans need to “resist” the temptation to think “the problem has gone away.”

She said people will need to keep following “core elements” of public health measures “for many months to come.”

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“The virus is still with us and we need to continue to take it very seriously, even as we start to think about reopening again,” said Hinshaw.

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“We can think about this virus as a tidal wave that could’ve swept in and left a trail of destruction behind. This didn’t happen because we collectively formed a barrier by our actions to prevent the full force of this wave from striking us.”

More than 1,270 Albertans have recovered after being infected by the virus.

Around 71 per cent of confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases in Alberta have been in the Calgary zone, which extends north to Didsbury, east to Gleichen, south to Claresholm and west to the Rocky Mountain parks.

Province begins listing care homes with outbreaks online

Of the new fatalities reported Tuesday, one was a man in his 80s from the Calgary area.

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Another was a resident of the J.B. Wood Continuing Care Centre in High Prairie. More than half of Alberta’s coronavirus-related deaths — 39 in total — have been residents in long-term care.

There are 367 cases of COVID-19 in 29 continuing-care facilities across Alberta.

On Tuesday, the province for the first time began posting online the name and location of long-term care, acute-care and supportive-living facilities where there are active outbreaks.

That includes 25 facilities in Alberta Health Services’ Calgary zone:

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Hinshaw said an active outbreak is defined as having two or more cases in a facility, which indicates transmission may have occurred

“A precautionary outbreak is declared if even one staff or resident is confirmed to have COVID,” Hinshaw said. “Having this low threshold of reporting and outbreak measures ensures that public health is immediately involved to support the facility, to protect residents and staff from spread of the virus.”

An outbreak is declared over once four weeks have passed with no new cases.

At Clifton Manor in southeast Calgary, four residents have died due to conditions related to COVID-19.

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A total of 25 people, including 23 residents and 12 staff members, have also tested positive for the virus, according to the Brenda Strafford Foundation, which operates the facility.

All positive resident cases have been in the same area of the facility, with no spread throughout the rest of the building, according to the organization.

“We know this will come as difficult information at what has already been a challenging time for everyone at Clifton Manor,” Brenda Strafford Foundation president and CEO Mike Conroy said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The sad reality associated with COVID-19 in continuing-care sites is that there is distressingly high fatality rate.”

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Meanwhile, 401 employees of the Cargill meat processing plant in High River have now tested positive for COVID-19, in what has become the largest outbreak of the virus in Alberta.

Many others have acquired the illness through community transmission, by virtue of living with plant workers, according to the province.

One worker at the facility who was infected by COVID-19 has died. The plant announced Monday it was temporarily halting operations.

There are 20 confirmed cases in people from the Kearl Lake oilsands work camp, with no new cases reported since Monday. Hinshaw said anyone who is currently on site at the camp, north of Fort McMurray, will be swabbed for the virus this week as an added outbreak control measure.

All Kearl Lake workers who were at the camp before the outbreak was confirmed on April 16 are now asked to self-isolate for 14 days from the time they left the camp.

“This is important because these workers may have been exposed without being aware and they could be incubating and they must be watching for signs of illness,” Hinshaw said.

With files from Anna Junker

shudes@postmedia.com

Twitter: @SammyHudes