Thank you JP, thank you Minister, and good afternoon.

Let me first add my condolences to the premier’s for those who are grieving the loss of loved ones in Nova Scotia. In a time when certainty and routines were already disrupted by the pandemic, this is a hard blow to add. These losses weigh heavily on all of us.

Although I wish I did not have additional sad news to share, we have had four deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing our total to 59. Two of these deaths were in residents from long term care sites. One at Manoir du Lac and one at Carewest Sarcee in Calgary. Another was a death of a worker at the Cargill plant in High River, and the fourth was in the Edmonton Zone.

I want to offer my sympathies to the families and friends of all these individuals. Again, these are reminders of why we are collectively working to prevent spread of this virus.

We have slightly less cases today than in the past few days, with 105 new cases of COVID-19 in Alberta in the last 24 hours.

As you know, we have expanded testing access to anyone with COVID symptoms. In addition, we have started testing even asymptomatic residents and staff in long-term care sites with outbreaks, and offering testing to asymptomatic individuals in certain other outbreak sites in order to enhance control measures.

As of today, we have tested over 100,000 people in the province, with 3,718 COVID tests completed in the last 24 hours.

Today’s new cases bring the total number of Alberta’s COVID-19 cases to 2,908. Of these, 1,230 people have recovered.

I want to take a moment to clarify case numbers related to the Cargill facility in High River.

There are 360 cases in workers from that plant  related to that outbreak, but there has also been spread in the community beyond these workers, with 484 total cases linked to that outbreak.

Not all of these cases are people who work at that plant. Many of these cases live in surrounding communities such as Calgary.

Many of the cases identified in the Calgary Zone over the weekend were linked to this broader outbreak. There is a dedicated team working on reducing spread, with particular attention on households where there may not be the resources or the space for self-isolation to happen.

There is a great deal of focus on controlling the spread linked to these networks; however many of the new cases that are currently being diagnosed were exposed up to two weeks ago before control measures were fully in place, so we will continue to see new cases linked to this outbreak over the coming days.

Outbreak control measures are also in place at JBS foods where 67 cases have been confirmed related to this workplace, and also at the Kearle Lake Work Camp, where the latest update I have is 12 cases in Alberta and 8 in other provinces.

We are working to confirm numbers for the work camp outbreak, as cases diagnosed in other provinces take time to incorporate into our counts.

Finally, one additional case has been identified at the Foothills Hospital, bringing the total to 9 cases. This does not change the assessment of risk, and this additional case is not unexpected.

As I mentioned on Friday, this week we will begin posting the location and facility name of outbreaks in the province.

The first posting will be tomorrow afternoon along with the daily case numbers update that I give each day.

We are using a phased approach and tomorrow we will begin by posting a list of outbreaks in all continuing care and acute care facilities. Note, that the only acute care outbreak is the one I have previously referenced at the Foothills Hospital.

Over the next two weeks, we will begin to include outbreaks in other settings on that list, but we need more time to work out notification processes for these. In the meantime, new outbreaks with  unusual circumstances will be part of my daily updates.

Because case numbers linked to specific outbreaks change frequently and rapidly…

…these numbers will not be included in the online posting as they would become out of date soon after they were posted.

We will continue to try to provide updated case numbers to the media as requested.

As I mentioned, outbreaks at acute and continuing care facilities will be posted starting tomorrow.

I know that staff at continuing care facilities are doing everything they can to keep residents healthy and make sure they are properly cared for.

In many cases, they are taking on the companionship and caregiving roles family members would normally perform when they visit.

That is why I am pleased the government is providing additional support to health care aides.

I know restrictions on continuing care facilities are taking a toll on residents, workers and family members missing their loved ones…

…the fact that these restrictions are necessary doesn’t make the situation any easier.

This support will help increase staffing at many facilities…

…and allow staff to spend more time caring for residents and providing companionship that many may be missing.

This will support the mental health of residents and workers as well as their physical health.

We can all take steps to improve our mental health during this difficult time.

The weather is improving and I encourage you to get outside if you can, maintaining physical distance to get some exercise and enjoy spring in Alberta, which we know can be fleeting.

I know it can be confusing to hear me say “stay home” and then hearing me encourage you to leave your house to go outside.

This advice is not as contradictory as it may seem.

Getting exercise and spending time outside is important and you can do it while continuing to take all necessary precautions and following public health orders while you are out of the house.

Thank you for continuing to do your part to flatten the curve.

By working together we can prevent the spread of infection, protect our most vulnerable family members, friends and neighbours and begin the gradual return to our normal lives sooner.

Thank you. I am happy to take questions.