Alberta premier asks ministers for 'full assessment' of E. coli outbreak in Calgary

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she's asked her health minister, as well as her children and family services minister, to "do a full assessment" of an E. coli outbreak linked to Calgary daycares.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she's asked her health minister, as well as her children and family services minister, to "do a full assessment" of an E. coli outbreak linked to Calgary daycares.

Alberta Health Services says in a statement that as of Sunday, there were a total of 190 lab-confirmed cases connected to the outbreak which was declared nearly a week ago.

That's up from 140 on Friday.

It says there are currently 27 patients receiving care in hospital, and that 20 patients have been confirmed as having severe illness.

Smith says in a social media post that she's asked for the assessment of the outbreak "to ensure steps are taken to prevent this from happening in the future."

She says she's sending her thoughts and prayers to all the children who’ve contracted E. coli in the recent outbreak.

"My heart also goes out to the families of these little ones. Thank you to all the frontline workers who've been working tirelessly to treat and care for these children," Smith's post on Sunday stated.