The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta.
2020
March 1–7 In a March 4 statement, Hinshaw said that there were no confirmed presumptive COVID-19 cases in Alberta, and the risk at that time was low. Hinshaw advised Albertans to prepare in case COVID-19 should arrive here in Alberta by having "three days' worth of essential items like food, water and medicine on hand in the event of any emergency." She cautioned against panic buying and advised Albertans to "plan ahead".
On March 5, Hinshaw reported Alberta's first presumptive COVID-19 case. On February 21, a woman who was in her 50s, and had been on the Grand Princess Cruise ship had returned to the Calgary zone—an area that includes Calgary, Nanton, Canmore and Claresholm on February 21 and had tested positive. Hinshaw said that more positive cases were found as a result of the work of public health teams who had contacted the 44 Albertans repatriated from the Grand Princess.
March 8–14 On March 9, 2020, Hinshaw said that tests had revealed the fifth, sixth, and seventh cases of COVID-19 in Alberta. Case five was an older woman who had been on the Princess Cruise. Case 6, in the Calgary zone, was a young man who had travelled to Ukraine, Netherlands and Turkey. Case seven was a woman who was on the MS Braemar Caribbean cruise ship. Hinshaw said that, COVID-19 "can spread person-to-person by larger droplets, like from a cough or sneeze…or by touching contaminated objects or surfaces, then touching your eyes, nose or mouth." Hinshaw acknowledged the work of Health Link, and Alberta's public health laboratory, among others. The laboratory "dramatically increased" capacity for running tests for COVID-19. On March 7 300 tests were performed and on March 8 alone they performed 700 tests. Since all of the cases tested in Alberta were subsequently confirmed, "positive samples tested by Alberta laboratories no longer require further confirmation" from the Winnipeg-based National Microbiology Laboratory (NML).
By March 10, there were 7 new confirmed cases that brought the total to 14 in Alberta. One person had travelled on the same MS Braemar cruise ship in the Caribbean as case seven.
By March 11, there were 5 new cases, bringing the total to 19 confirmed cases in the province. At her daily briefing, Hinshaw drew attention to the World Health Organization's (WHO) official declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic earlier on March 11.
On March 12, Hinshaw said that, faced with the "rapidly evolving global threat", the provincial government had adopted "aggressive new public health measures to limit the spread of this virus." The Emergency Management Cabinet Committee approved Hinshaw's "recommendation that all large gatherings of more than 250 people, or international events" in Alberta be cancelled. She made a number of recommendations regarding how to communicate with children about this virus.
In her response to the March 11 decision by the World Health Organization to "officially declare COVID-19 a global pandemic", Hinshaw said that this "reflects the seriousness" of COVID-19, which is "not like other threats we have seen in the past few decades. It is more severe than seasonal influenza, and more contagious than viruses like SARS." She said that the virus "can be contained" as was the case in "countries like Singapore. At that time, people who had confirmed COVID-19 cases in Alberta, had recently returned from trips to "Iran, Egypt, Spain, Washington state and Mexico." As a result, the province requested that "all travellers returning from Italy" self-isolate for two weeks. As well, airports in Calgary and Edmonton would begin screening starting on March 14.
On March 12, 2020, Alberta announced a ban on all meetings of more than 250 people. As of March 12, all those who have travelled outside Canada "must self-isolate for 14 days and monitor for symptoms." Alberta Health launched an online assessment tool on March 13. If the user answers yes to certain questions, they are prompted to call 911 emergency services, 811 to speak with a nurse, or they were told that a test is not necessary.
By the late evening of March 12, the University of Calgary suspended lectures for the following day, March 13. By March 16, the university closure was made permanent for the remainder of the semester, with the university moving to deliver course content online.
On March 13, Health Minister Tyler Shandro said that Alberta's Health Link had been "receiving more than 6,300 calls a day." The province had "doubled 811 staff" and more were in training but the wait times were long. By March 13, 2020, tests had been administered in Alberta. By March 13, there were numerous closures and cancellations across the province. including some Alberta Court of Queen's Bench jury trials.
March 15–21 By March 15, Alberta had reported 56 cases, and had completed 10,524 tests. Hinshaw announced at her daily briefing that Alberta had its first cases of community transmission, which was at that time limited to seven people, six of whom attended the Pacific Dental Conference held from March 5 to 7 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Cases of COVID-19 in Alberta, Ontario, and British Columbia have been identified with the conference, which had 15,000 attendees.
Alberta ordered all daycares to close, all K-12 schools to suspend classes and close to students, and all post-secondary institutions to suspend in-person classes and switch to online classes on March 15. Grade 12 diploma exams will still occur.
Calgary's Mayor Naheed Nenshi on March 15, 20:51 PM and Red Deer's Mayor Tara Veer on March 16, declared a State of Local Emergency (SOLE) in their cities. Nenshi "ordered all city-owned and operated fitness facilities and pools, as well as public libraries, to close." and other facilities were restricted to 250 persons or 50 percent occupancy, with some exclusions, including grocery stores, shopping centres, big-box stores, casinos, pharmacies, airports, offices, public transit, and AHS facilities, shelters, and care centres. 20:53 PM The director of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, Tom Sampson, said Calgary residents would have basic services including water and power, public transit, and 911 for emergency services from fire, police and ambulance.On March 21, Mayor Nenshi clarified that Chief Sampson was the only one who "can give you orders under a State of Local Emergency" (SOLE) . Nenshi reminded Calgarians to maintain physical activity by going outside—outside is not closed, to "keep your physical distance – 2 metres...[A]ccess to nature are critical elements of maintaining our mental health." The Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) has been providing regular "COVID-19 – State of Local Emergency impact" updates.
On March 16, the province of Alberta announced that "all kindergarten to Grade 12 classes and in-person post-secondary lectures" were suspended. At her daily briefing, Hinshaw said that she was self-isolatingHinshaw clarified that a person who is self-isolating can go outside for a walk but they should stay 2 metres away from others. as she waited for the results of her test for COVID-19. This included not eating meals with family and keeping a distance of 2 metres away from family members until she had test results. She reported that with 18 new cases confirmed, Alberta had 74 cases.
On the evening of March 16, the Emergency Management Cabinet Committee authorized Premier Kenney to use "all powers necessary" to "keep Albertans safe".
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney declared a public health state of emergency under the Public Health Act (PHA) on March 17, on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer. The province imposed specific "aggressive public health measures" which included "limiting mass gatherings", and prohibiting and limiting attendance at a number of public and private facilities.
By March 17, there were 23 new cases representing the "largest day-over-day increase yet in the province" resulting in total of 97 people in Alberta with the virus. Confirmed cases across the province include 20 in the Calgary zone, 20 in the Edmonton zone, 3 in the Central zone, 1 in the South zone, and 3 in the North zone.
Hinshaw's March 17 update said that five people that tested positive were hospitalized, two had been were admitted to the ICU, and the other 90 individuals were "self-isolating at home and expected to make a full recovery." She listed the province-wide "aggressive steps" that were taken to prevent the virus from spreading, which included limiting contact between people. She described how these steps were undertaken to "flatten the curve". "The more we can slow the spread of the virus down, the less likely it is that there will be a surge of cases that overwhelm our health system's capacity to care for those who need hospitalization or intensive care." She announced that Alberta Health Services was preparing for an "increase in the number of cases that need hospital care" so all scheduled and elective surgeries were postponed. She listed activities that would be prohibited under the state of emergency declared by Premier Kenney.
On March 18, Alberta reported 119 cases of people testing positive for COVID-19. On March 18, Hinshaw said that Alberta's "online self-assessment tool had been accessed more than 1.3 million times." Alberta had performed about 15,000 tests, adding that, "To put that into perspective, when accounting for population size, that is 35 times higher than the per capita number of tests in the US."
Hinshaw said at her March 18 update, "We have had to weigh lives against livelihoods. And in order to save lives, I have had to make recommendations that will take away livelihoods from many Albertans over the next several weeks to months. There are no easy solutions to the situation we are in, not only in Alberta but around the world." Both Premier Kenney and Hinshaw said that Alberta "may not reach the peak of the current coronavirus pandemic for weeks, and that drastic measures to curb the spread of the virus may be needed until the end of May." Hinshaw said that "first wave of the outbreak could reach its peak in Alberta around mid-April" and that "officials expect another wave of the illness in the fall."
By March 19, doctors in Alberta were encouraged to practice "social distancing, including from their own clinics." Peace River physician, Dr. Heather Shonoski said that, "Family physicians have been begging [Minister of Health Tyler Shandro]" to allow them to "provide virtual care" to their patients" so that they could keep their "vulnerable patients at home and promote social distancing."
On March 19, Hinshaw announced the first death in Alberta in the Edmonton zone, along with 27 new confirmed cases bringing the total to 146. By March 19 Alberta labs had performed 16,867 tests. Hinshaw said that eight cases are suspected to be spread through community transmission.Community transmission refers to cases there "AHS investigators could not identify an obvious source of the virus." She said that the recovery of two patients from their symptoms, was a "sign of hope that many people who get this do recover."
By March 20, there were 49 new confirmed cases making a total of 195 confirmed cases identified in Alberta. Hishaw said that 11 of these "may be community transmission". As of March 20, 3 individuals had recovered, 10 were hospitalized. Three more patients were admitted to the ICU since March 19, for a total of 5 being treated in the ICU. Hinshaw said that, "World-wide, Alberta has been conducting among the highest number of tests per capita." By March 20, Alberta labs had conducted 20,165 tests.