Jasper now has five confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of one from yesterday.
The update came from Alberta Health today (April 3) as it was announced that there were 107 new confirmed cases in the province, bringing the total to 1,075.
And five more people have died from COVID, including a woman in her 20s from Edmonton.
"This is a tragic reminder that it is not only the elderly or those with underlying conditions who are at risk," said Dr Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health for Alberta.
"The measures we have in place are to protect all of us."
Of the total cases, 137 are suspected to be community spread - i.e. have no found connection to travel.
And 196 people have recovered from the virus, 22 more than yesterday.
Four of the people who died were from the McKenzie Towne continuing care centre in Calgary, making a total of eight COVID-related deaths there.
The other patient who died was a woman in her 20s from Edmonton. Hinshaw said it is not clear at this time whether she had underlying health conditions.
"We can honour these people by recommitting to physical distancing and staying home whenever possible," said Hinshaw.
She said doctors don't know who will have a severe case when they are infected by the virus. Some people who are young and healthy will go on to have severe disease or even die.
Until the province has more information about who is greatest at risk and more evidence about treatments, physical distancing measures will remain in place.
Hinshaw said "the world learns more about COVID-19 every day" but she expects the response to the pandemic to last for "many months".
'Not a rapid rise in transmission'
Over the last three days, Alberta Health has announced about 100 new cases of COVID a day - and confirmed around 60 a day in the days before that.
Hinshaw said that it may appear we are seeing a spike, but it's actually down to the Alberta labs working through a backlog of swabs.
The numbers represent the date the lab completed the test and not when the person became ill, Hinshaw said.
"When we look at the day the swab was taken not the day it was tested, we have remained relatively constant over the last ten days," said Hinshaw.
"Every one is concerning and we follow up with everyone but it doesn't seem like we are seeing a rapid rise in transmission."
