Check against delivery.
Thank you Tom and good afternoon everyone.
Before I begin, I want to acknowledge all of the health care workers across Alberta who are supporting our pandemic response.
For eight months, you have been on the frontlines, protecting and supporting Albertans with all their health needs, running lab tests, caring for hospitalized patients, doing contact tracing, and managing outbreaks.
Behind every COVID case identified, and every patient cared for with any illness, there is a long list of people working very hard.
The rise in cases has only increased the demands placed upon you, and the pressures that you face.
I know you are tired, and I hope that you are still able to find some time to recharge.
I hope that you know that your work is making a difference. Thank you.
Today, I will be providing an update on the spread of COVID-19 since Friday.
As I mentioned last week, we underwent a system upgrade to our databases over the weekend, so we were unable to share numbers yesterday.
I know that many people follow this information closely, and I appreciate your patience.
Over the last four days, we have averaged 567 new cases per day.
This is a large and troubling number, one that drives home the challenge that we are facing.
Breaking it down by day, on Friday, we identified 581 new cases of COVID-19, while our lab conducted more than 13,100 tests.
On Saturday, we completed more than 13,000 tests and identified 525 new cases.
On Sunday, we diagnosed 592 cases and almost 11,300 tests.
And yesterday, the lab conducted more than 8,400 tests and identified 570 new cases.
Our lab test positivity rate in the province has risen to 6.8% yesterday, and in Edmonton, the positivity rate is almost 9%.
In Calgary, the growth rate is still high, with an R value of 1.2 over the past 5 days, and Calgary has caught up to Edmonton, with both cities having more than 2,500 active cases each.
This is not good news. This is a problem.
Of all of the developments that have happened since Friday, the one thing that shows some promise is that Edmonton has reached R value of 1, over the past five days showing that the measures have had some effect.
It’s a good start, but it’s not enough yet.
While COVID has consumed much of our attention in our lives, we must not forget that babies are still being born, accidents are still occurring and Albertans continue to experience a wide range of urgent health needs.
Our top priority is protecting the health system to ensure that COVID-19 does not threaten our ability to provide the essential care that Albertans require for all their health issues.
Currently, there are 167 people in hospital in Alberta, including 27 in intensive care with COVID.
This is a sharp and concerning increase.
As you know, many non-urgent surgeries have been postponed in Edmonton Zone.
We are working with AHS to closely monitor the health system’s capacity closely and, if needed, to consider steps to ensure the health system is able to support Albertans.
Sadly, I must report that there have been 15 deaths from COVID since Friday.
This is a heartbreaking number that underscores the seriousness of this pandemic.
One of the hardest parts of my job is to report a death – any death, be it from COVID-19 or any other cause.
Every death represents a person who was loved by family and friends and who will be mourned.
My deepest condolences to everyone who is grieving today, and to everyone who has had to deal with a loss during this challenging time.
Turning to schools, as of today, AHS has confirmed that 173 schools that previously had alerts have had no transmission, and students and staff are now back in class.
There are active alerts or outbreaks in 252 schools. That is about 10% of all the schools in the province.
Currently these schools have 778 active cases in total.
This number includes 117 schools that are on outbreaks, including 50 currently on the watch list.
So far, in-school transmission has likely occurred in 99 schools.
Of these, 56 have had only one new case occur as a result.
I have said before that cases we are seeing in schools – as well as in our hospitals and continuing care facilities – are largely a reflection of the transmission that is going on in our communities.
As the case numbers reported over the last few weeks show, we are facing a concerning situation, and we need to reduce the rate of transmission if we want to avoid more difficult choices in the future.
It is now flu season and I have heard some people recently dismiss COVID as no different from influenza.
While there are some similarities, I want to stress the differences between them and the challenges that each of them presents to us.
First, there is no vaccine for COVID-19, unlike influenza.
Second, this virus is more deadly than influenza, especially seasonal influenza.
While the true mortality of COVID-19 will take some time to fully understand, the preliminary data is clear.
In the last four influenza seasons, the peak number of deaths we have recorded in a full year is 92.
In just eight months, there have been 338 deaths from COVID-19, despite taking extraordinary measures to contain transmission.
COVID also has a greater impact on our health system.
In the past five years, the maximum number of influenza outbreaks we have had in acute care in a single year was 40 acute care outbreaks in 2017-18.
In six months alone, and despite aggressive measures to limit transmission, we have already had more than 40 COVID-19 outbreaks in acute care settings.
This is not to minimize the impact of influenza, or the importance of getting your flu shot – which I am strongly recommending.
But it is important to highlight that we cannot treat this virus as something that our health system can easily absorb, or something that will simply depart when spring arrives.
COVID-19 is here and it’s not going away anytime soon.
The onus is on us to adapt.
And to embrace the measures that will keep us safe and limit the spread, while continuing to live and function as a society.
For example, a large portion of the transmission we are currently seeing is within households.
That means that family members are infecting one another.
I have talked before about what to do if a family member is sick, but I want to stress it again now – because this is an example of how simple steps can have big impacts.
Many times, we have seen a single family member develop symptoms and infect five, eight or even more than 10 others in their immediate or extended family.
If you are sick with even mild symptoms, you need to take steps to protect those around you.
Whenever possible, please isolate yourself in the house in a separate room from others, if possible using a different bathroom and bedroom.
When you can’t isolate yourself, please wear a mask and disinfect common surfaces after using them.
Do not eat dinners with others in your family, do not share utensils or food, or spend prolonged time in close contact with others like watching a movie together on a couch.
Do not go out of the house, even if your symptoms are mild and even if you don’t want to miss an important family gathering.
That is how one case can lead to ten or even twenty.
I know that there are many opinions about what this virus means, what will come next and the best way to move forward.
I continue to ask all Albertans to engage in respectful debate.
COVID-19 is new, and there is no one “right” way to navigate this pandemic.
What we do know however, is that when COVID-19 starts to escalate, it can do so quickly and dramatically.
Within the next few days, we will start to see if the recent public health measures, including the limits on social gatherings in Edmonton and Calgary, are enough to reduce the rate of transmission.
If they are not, we must consider other options.
We will continue to follow the evidence and to look closely at what measures may have the most impact, based on the data in our province.
As we watch for the impact of our changes, it is critical that all Albertans continue to follow all public health measures regardless of where they live.
In particular, in areas where case numbers are increasing, I ask you to think carefully about your actions.
Avoid being in close proximity to anyone outside your household.
Wear a mask when in indoor public places or in your workplace if you can’t keep two metres of distance at all times.
Consider postponing social gatherings, especially those in a home setting.
If you can’t postpone, consider moving them outside and keep them as small as possible.
Stay home and get tested if you’re sick.
If you are positive, work with contact tracers to let those who may have been exposed know to stay home.
These are critical steps for all of us.
I know with numbers rising, there are many questions about how transmission is happening, and what we have found with our outbreak investigations.
We are exploring ways to have AHS share non-identifying public versions of outbreak investigations such as the invesitation into the Misericordia Community Hospital and other facilities.
And I hope to have more to share soon.
We are at a critical juncture in this pandemic.
I know this has been a tiring year, one that’s taken a mental and physical toll on many.
But we cannot give up. We must not give up.
I believe one of the problems underlying pandemic fatigue is a sense of powerlessness and, for some, a loss of hope.
It can be easy to feel like COVID is happening to us that it is beyond our control to make better, or worse.
But hope is not lost. We still have the power to collectively reverse the trend.
We don’t know where every exposure happens, but we do know where a lot of our cases are coming from, and that’s from the times that we are interacting with our co-workers, our extended family and our network of friends.
If we all start taking extra precautions during these interactions, that will help reverse the trend and protect the health system.
This month, I’m asking all of us to do everything we can to protect our family, our friends and our community.
The future is not set in stone.
We are in this together and we are powerful together.
Thank you and I am happy to take questions.