Edmonton health officials are reminding folks to be cautious after COVID-19 cases doubled in a week.

The city saw a spike in cases from 45 to 106 the first week of June and most of those cases were linked back to two private family gatherings, said Dr. Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health for the province of Alberta. Hinshaw said physical distancing and mask-wearing measures at the events were "not consistently applied."

When asked during a press conference on Monday about the cases, Hinshaw said "it's quite natural for people to start feeling like maybe they can ease up on these measures."

"We've all been waiting a long time to see our friends and family and human connection is a critical and important part of our health."

"But we really do need to remember that it can only take one event where you can have one person who is maybe infectious and not even know it and can spread to 10 people, 20 people, depending on what the nature of the event is."

"It's not to point fingers at those particular individuals," she explained. 

She said she was confident there were other gatherings where physical distancing and face mask measures were not followed but these were "the unlucky ones" that saw the virus make its way into their circle.

Hinshaw reminded people to continue to be vigilant in practising these measures including "the consistence use of two-metre distancing and masks."

Despite the spike in cases in Edmonton, the province as a whole is moving forward with reopening many businesses and services with restrictions as it moves into Phase 2 on Friday.