Check against delivery.

Thank you, Tom, and good afternoon everyone.

Before I provide the daily update, I want to address some of the many questions we have received from people who live alone about who they may gather with.

I recognize the impacts that isolation can have on our emotional and mental health, that is why people who live alone are allowed to socialize indoors with two close contacts as long as they are the same two contacts for the duration of the restrictions.

To clarify, we consider you to be living alone, if you are the sole occupant of your house, apartment or unit.

If you have a roommate, tenant or friend staying in the same dwelling, you do not live alone.

If you do live alone, the two contacts you choose do not need to be from the same household.

They also do not need to be living on their own.

But if you choose a close contact who has other individuals living in their home, indoor gatherings must take place in your home to limit person-to-person contact.

I know it can be challenging to choose only two people, so I would like to thank Albertans in this situation for being flexible and doing their part to bend the curve.

Turning to today’s case numbers, over the last 24 hours, we have identified 1,735 new cases of COVID-19 in Alberta, and completed more than 20,300 tests.

Our provincial positivity rate currently sits at about 8.5%, and we now have more than 20,000 active cases.

There are 609 people in hospital, including 108 people who have been admitted into the ICU.

Sadly, there were 16 deaths related to COVID-19 reported to us during the last 24 hours. My deepest condolences go to the family and friends of these individuals.

The rising fatalities that we are reporting is a tragic reminder of the deadly power of this virus, and why it is vital that we slow the spread.

Sadly, six of the deaths we are reporting today are linked to the outbreak at the Edmonton Chinatown Care Centre. 

We are very concerned by the number of cases and the overall situation at the facility.  Alberta Health Services  has provided staff to help support residents and ensure they’re getting the care they need.

Alberta Health is also helping monitor the facility. Staff visited the site three times last week, and again today.

This is a challenging situation but we are working hard to protect everyone involved.

In schools, there are currently active alerts or outbreaks in 414 schools, about 18% of schools in the province.

Currently these schools have a combined total of 1,644 active cases.

This number includes 237 schools with outbreaks, including 106 currently on the watch list.

Testing for COVID-19 continues to play an extremely important role in helping quickly identify the disease and prevent further spread.

This week, we will begin piloting point-of-care rapid testing at the COVID-19 assessment centres in St. Paul and Slave Lake, and at one assessment centre each in both Calgary and Edmonton.

These tests will provide faster, more convenient testing for the disease.

As I noted last week, these tests are used on patients who are within the first seven days of showing symptoms, reducing the need for some patient samples to be transported to centralized public laboratories for processing.

I need to remind everyone, that in those without symptoms, the rapid tests are less accurate. In addition, they’re less sensitive than the usual test so those who have symptoms and test negative with the rapid test will still need to isolate while waiting for their results through the molecular lab btesting.

What this test does offer is faster identification of positive cases. Fast-tracking the testing in this way  will allow health-care teams to prioritize the cases that are still infectious, and focus efforts where they can have the greatest impact on preventing further transmission.

AHS will be able to identify and notify positive cases within just a few hours, speeding up the appropriate care and isolation of patients.

AHS and Alberta Precision Laboratories is also working on expanding the use of point-of-care testing in other locations including long-term care facilities and shelters.

The steadily rising COVID numbers in our province continue to be extremely troubling.

I encourage Albertans to keep them in mind when considering how to best incorporate restrictions into their daily lives.

The small changes that we all make have tremendous power.

They stop the virus from spreading, and break transmission chains, preventing dozens or even hundreds of cases that would otherwise have occurred.

At the same time, the small bending of the rules, the one-time social get-togethers with extended family and parties with friends, have the power to undo the hard work of so many within just a few minutes.

On Friday, I challenged everyone to limit their in-person interactions as much as possible over the weekend.

I want to thank everyone who accepted this challenge.

While it may have felt anti-climactic to stay at home, you did the right thing and I thank every Albertan who has been working hard to stop the spread.

The high case numbers we saw reported over the weekend and those reported today were from people who were largely exposed between a week to 10 days ago.

However, the continued rise in new cases and hospitalizations underscores the seriousness of the situation we now face.

I will be blunt: so far, we are not bending the curve back down.

We are still witnessing very high transmission of the virus, which is putting enormous pressure on our hospitals, intensive care units and health care workers.

It is also putting tremendous strain on our continuing care facilities and many other sectors.

Health care workers in hospitals and continuing care facilities, as well as those leading important public health work like contact tracing and outbreak management, have been on the frontlines, working hard for many months.

I know that many are exhausted.

We must do all we can to protect them, especially during this period when COVID-19 is spreading rapidly and more patients are being admitted into hospital.

My team and I are monitoring this situation closely.

We are now in the ninth month of this pandemic.

I am more concerned than ever before about the spread of this virus.

Every one of us needs to be a part of this, and we need to come together to protect each other.

Thank you and I’m happy to answer any questions.