The province has identified eight more cases of the Omicron variant since Friday, December 3.

This morning Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw took to Twitter to report the new cases which she confirmed are all from returning travellers.

"We have confirmed eight new cases of the variant, bringing our total to twelve," explains Hinshaw. "Eleven cases in Alberta have been identified in returning travellers and one is a household contact."

Dr. Hinshaw added that the individuals are experiencing only mild symptoms and are currently isolating.

The Province is currently reporting 4, 440 active COVID-19 cases, with 395 Albertans in hospital and 78 in intensive care.

Cochrane's active case count is sitting at 53, and to date, eight deaths have been reported in town.

In regards to local schools, Cochrane Christian Academy is currently listed under an Alert Status with 2-4 cases and Fireside School continues to be listed under an Outbreak reporting 10+ cases.