Scenes from a beach in Alberta have people shocked and worried after thousands flocked to Sylvan Lake over the weekend and gathered in huge crowds to enjoy a day by the water.

The popular beach was packed over the weekend with people coming from different parts of the province, including Red Deer, Calgary and Edmonton.

Sylvan Lake today - my anxiety was a tad high today😬 Don’t think we’ll be going back. I felt like a Covidiot today 🤦🏻‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/ncYWBINIMO

— Andie 🤪 (@papercandie) July 12, 2020

Images from Sylvan show densely packed crowds surrounding the lakefront and apparently not practising social distancing.

This is Sylvan Lake, Alberta Canada yesterday, July 11, 2020. During a pandemic! #SylvanLake #Covid_19 #NoSocialDistancing #noleadership #Canada pic.twitter.com/XaidxHk7PV

— Elaine (@Elainey0007) July 12, 2020

A local resident told CBC News that it felt like people had "forgotten that we're all still vulnerable."

Overcrowding at Sylvan Lake. No social distancing and no masks. Spikes daily in Alberta of 77 per day don’t seem to be of concern. pic.twitter.com/mblXEgeZRI

— Life Origami (@LifeOrigami) July 12, 2020

Public health and government officials spoke out about the crowds, imploring Albertans to continue practising caution and vigilance against the virus.

This is so dangerous. You're putting your life at risk. Please Albertans let's work together to get rid of COVID-19. #ableg #abhealthhttps://t.co/8Lk8e2tMAX

— Rachel Notley (@RachelNotley) July 12, 2020

Recently, the town announced  it would be deactivating its Emergency Coordination Centre and returning to mostly normal administrative operations.

did yall see sylvan lake today 💀💀💀 pic.twitter.com/UzQApqOhAH

— 🤍 c. (@crishiallie) July 11, 2020

But one infectious disease expert told CBC that, while there's a level of "COVID fatigue" at play where people are losing track of health regulations, the risk of gathering in huge crowds like the one at Sylvan Lake is still "quite high."