Alberta is reporting eight new cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, bringing its total in the province to 11.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, says the new cases came over the weekend and all but one were returning travellers.
She says there had been a total of 12 variant cases but it was determined that one person is a resident of another province.
One of the cases is also a household contact, and Hinshaw says all are isolating and recovering at home with mild symptoms.
She says some household members of these cases have tested positive for COVID-19, but it’s not confirmed if they have the Omicron variant.
Hinshaw says one of those household members attended two schools in the north health region.
She says those schools have been notified and are getting rapid test kits as a precaution.
On Monday, the province reported five new deaths over the weekend due to COVID-19. There were 366 people in hospital with the virus, and 72 of those were in intensive care.
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