COVID-19: Alberta's top doctor faces questions after premier’s patio dinner | FULL

Alberta's chief medical officer of health faced several questions Thursday over photos of a gathering involving Alberta’s premier and a number of his cabinet ministers. They were seen dining on the balcony of the so-called "Sky Palace" in Edmonton Tuesday night.

Despite current COVID-19 restrictions, nobody in the photos is seen wearing a mask and the majority of people seen in the photos, including Premier Jason Kenney, Health Minister Tyler Shandro and Government House Leader and Environment and Parks Minister Jason Nixon, were not physically distanced.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw was asked Thursday if the premier and his colleagues broke the rules during the dinner.

Hinshaw said that while she had seen photos of the outdoor gathering, she wasn't there herself and therefore couldn't say if public health measures were consistently followed.

"Whether or not a mistake was made really comes down to that question of distancing,” she said. “It's clear that that two metres is required in outdoor social gatherings… that is kind of the key here.”

Hinshaw stressed that all Albertans should be trying to adhere to the guidelines in order to lower transmission rates while more people can be vaccinated.

"All of us have the opportunity right now, today, to make a difference for our neighbours, ourselves and our communities by sticking to those rules."

On Thursday, the province confirmed an additional 296 COVID-19 cases over the previous 24 hours. The province conducted 6,808 tests, putting the positivity rate at about 4.6 per cent.

An additional 305 cases involving variants were also confirmed over the last 24 hours.

Alberta currently has 411 people in hospital with COVID-19, with 120 of those people in the ICU.

Five additional coronavirus deaths were reported to Alberta Health over the last 24 hours.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/7915663/alberta-covid-19-update-june-2-vaccine-second-dose/

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