EDMONTON — Community spread and case counts continue to decline in Alberta after 209 new cases of COVID-19 since Thursday.

The province reported technical issues on Friday preventing a full online update, including hospitalization and ICU data. That data was released on Mondaysince COVID-19 data updates are no longer provided on weekends.

The province completed more than 4,500 tests and identified 209 new cases of COVID-19 since the last update, translating to a provincial positivity rate of 0.87 per cent.

Monday marked the second straight day the positivity rate was below one per cent. The seven-day rolling average for the positivity rate is 1.28 per cent.

There were 81 new cases of COVID-19 identified on Thursday, 64 on Friday, 33 on Saturday, and 31 on Sunday.

Alberta’s new seven-day average for COVID-19 cases is 73.

The province now has 1,261 active infections.

The Calgary zone leads the province for active cases with 682, representing 54 per cent of the total cases.

The North zone has 201 active infections while the Edmonton zone has 195. The Central and South zones have 137 and 42, respectively. There are four active cases with an unknown zone of origin.

There are 179 people with COVID-19 in hospital, including 86 in the Calgary zone and 46 in the Edmonton zone.

There are 20 patients in hospital in the North zone, 19 in the Central zone, and eight in the South zone.

Thirty-nine patients are in ICU.

Of the population aged 12 and over, 71.7 per cent have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Since Thursday, 18,794 first doses have been administered.

Approximately 38.6 per cent of Albertans eligible for vaccination are fully immunized.

Community spread, indicated by R values, is declining across the province. Values lower than one indicate spread is slowing.

The provincial value is 0.75 while the Calgary zone’s is 0.74. The Edmonton zone value is 0.73. The rest of Alberta has a value of 0.77.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw is scheduled to give her last COVID-19 update on Tuesday after delivering more than 230 press conferences.

EDMONTON — A series of unplanned power outages left more than 9,000 people without power in St. Albert and northwest Edmonton on Monday.

According to Fortis Alberta, approximately 9,010 customers were without power when an outage occurred around 2:20 p.m.

Fortis Alberta told CTV News Edmonton that after performing a series of inspections, the cause of the outage was determined to be a raven making contact within AltaLink’s North Calder Substation.

Residents in Lacombe Park along St. Albert Trail, southwestern Erin Ridge, Woodlands, Kingswood, western portions of Goodridge Corners, Akinsdale, Pineview, Kingswood, Forest Law, Sturgeon, Heritage Lakes, parts of Erin Ridge, and Braeside had lost power.

Power was restored to Heritage Lakes and the Riel area of St. Albert around 3:10 p.m.

All other neighbourhoods in St. Albert had their power restored by 5:10 p.m.

The Mistatim Industrial and Rampart Industrial areas of northwest Edmonton lost power around 2:22 p.m. According to EPCOR, 363 customers were without power.

Power was restored to all of the affected areas of northwest Edmonton after 3 p.m.

A heat wave continues to pound Western Canada, including the Edmonton area.

Edmonton broke the record for hottest temperature recorded in city for June 28 after reaching 32.6 degrees. The previous record was set in 2015 and was 32.2.

The all-time record for hottest temperature experienced in Edmonton is 37.2 degrees and was set on June 29, 1937.

EDMONTON — A seven-year-old who stole his dad’s keys and crashed the family vehicle was taken to hospital only for precautionary reasons Monday afternoon, officials say.

The family told CTV News Edmonton the boy snuck the keys around noon while his dad was sleeping.

His joyride through the Carlisle neighbourhood lasted about 10 houses before he hit a neighbour’s car, then a tree, then landed the vehicle on its side by a playground.

“They’re rebuilding the park, and if it had been fully rebuilt, there might have been kids there,” said neighbour Bob Braybrook. “Extremely fortunate, and it would really sadden me to have a kid hurt.”

According to the family, he then walked home to tell them.

The fire captain and police confirmed he sustained no major injures.

No other kids were at the playground at the time and no one else was hurt.

EDMONTON — As Alberta gets ready to drop provincial health restrictions, which include wearing masks in indoor public spaces, some are anxious about a future without masks.

“I’m sort of nervous about it. It’s been almost two years of wearing masks,” said Amanda Salame, who was out on Whyte Avenue.

Before 2020, people might have had to run back into the house to grab a phone or keys, but now masks have become just as much a part of daily life all over the world.

“Masks feel like the new normal,” said Nancy, who was also on Whyte Avenue.

Others are relieved to see an end to restrictions.

“There’s a pent up enthusiasm to get back to normal,” said Dr. Toby Rutner, a psychologist. “People are… it’s like they’ve been released from prison.”

Rutner said that for people who are shy or even agoraphobic, wearing masks and staying inside may have felt like good things. He added these kind of people will have a harder time returning to a pre-pandemic mindset.

“There will be a number of people who won’t take their masks off, who don’t feel like they’re safe, who feel really insecure and anxious.”

He added that children have also been under pressure to wear masks during the pandemic.

“We say now you can take your masks off, and then they get very afraid. They don’t want to do anything wrong. So I think our messaging needs to be more clear,” said Rutner.

A survey from the Canadian Mental Health Association showed nearly half of women are experiencing more stress, anxiety and depression.

“This is a significant transition and while it may be very exciting in some ways, it’s ok to be nervous, it’s normal to experience anxiety,” said Jennifer Yurkiw, with the Canadian Mental Health Association. “Reaching out to help, whether that be in your social circles or people in your personal life (is important).

During the pandemic, Rutner talked about how people who didn’t want to wear masks were pressured to for the safety of public health, but he doesn’t expect the reverse to happen when the restrictions lift.

“Hopefully, the end of the pandemic will allow us to reconcile with each other, spend more time face to face with each other and develop a more human relationship,” said Rutner.

Even with the public health restrictions lifted, masks will still be required by the province on public transit, in taxis and in ride shares. Private businesses will also be allowed to decide if customers and staff will need to wear masks inside stores.

To help clear up some of the confusion, the federal government has released new guidelines for fully vaccinated Canadians.

They include not requiring masks during small dinners with friends, family BBQs or playing sports.

The government is recommending wearing masks at large and crowded events due to circulating COVID-19 variants, even if people are fully vaccinated.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Touria Izri

EDMONTON — As a heat wave continues to pound Alberta, officials are reminding people enjoying the water to always keep water safety in mind.

“When you’re out and on the water, it can be really fun,” said Jillian Derusha, a water safety instructor with the Canadian Red Cross. “(That fun) can turn tragic.”

Derusha said a reminder of this and the importance of water safety came Friday evening when emergency crews searched for a man last seen swimming in the North Saskatchewan River.

As of Sunday, the man remains missing.

“Most of these incidents and accidents, even drownings, occur when it’s least expected,” Derusha added. “It’s not when you’re prepared for it. It will catch you off guard and surprise you.

“Have a life jacket or personal floatation device with you, even if you’re not fully on the water and just near it.”

Police and fire rescue services reminded Edmontonians to practice caution when enjoying glacier-fed rivers like the North Saskatchewan River since the spring thaw in the mountains is well underway.

Stefan Voelker with Edmonton Canoes says the tour company offers water safety training as part of their river tours.

He suggests for those enjoying the water in a boat or canoe to have a throw rope and a whistle, as well as sunscreen and drinking water.

“In a hot day with the sun blazing, that can be pretty tough,” Voelker said.