The Alberta government will shut down all schools, post-secondary institutions and daycares due to the "unprecedented" threat of COVID-19, it announced at a news conference on Sunday.

While schools will be closed to students, the province said teachers and other school staff will be expected to continue their regular day-to-day operations and administrative work.

At this time, diploma exams for Grade 12 students will still go ahead. The province expects that any student who is eligible to graduate from Grade 12 this year will still graduate.

The province also said that places of worship are now being asked to cancel services, in addition to an earlier recommendation that all gatherings of 250 people or more be cancelled.

New cases of COVID-19

The province also said there are 17 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases in Alberta has jumped to 56.

Three of the cases are in the Edmonton zone, and 14 are in the Calgary zone.

Seven of the cases happened because of a single gathering in the Calgary zone.

In addition to the new cases in the province, Alberta's Chief Officer of Health Dina Hinshaw confirmed that at least two of the cases identified over the last two days are non-travel related, or community spread cases.

New health funding

On top of the closures, the province announced an additional $500 million in funding for Alberta’s public health officials to ensure they have the tools they need for testing and treatment of the virus.

“This is truly an unprecedented public health emergency for Alberta, and our government is committed to bolstering the efforts of our front-line health professionals with the resources they need to continue protecting the province,” Kenney wrote in a news release. “Alberta’s public health workers are doing an outstanding job, and we are here to support them with whatever they need.”

Recreational Travel

Premier Kenney also advised all Albertans to cancel non-essential travel plans at the press conference.

“There is no good reason to be travelling for leisure purposes at this time,” he said.