Check against delivery.

Thank you, Tom, and good afternoon everyone.

We have now administered more than 101,000 doses of vaccine in Alberta.

There are now more than 11,000 Albertans who have been fully immunized with two doses.

Over the last 24 hours, we have identified 459 new cases of COVID-19, and completed more than 12,800 tests.  

Our positivity rate currently stands at about 3.6%.

There are currently active alerts in 273 schools, and outbreaks in 15.

This is about 12% of schools in the province.

Currently these schools have a combined total of 554 cases.

Sadly, I must announce that 12 new deaths were reported to Alberta Health in the last 24 hours.

My thoughts are with the family and friends grieving each of these individuals.

Each death is a reminder that we must continue to take action to prevent the spread of this virus.

Despite the decline in new and active cases across the province, there is still a lot of pressure on our health care system.

Today, I want to explain why we are focusing on protecting this system, and why high hospitalization numbers affect all of us.

Thanks to the hard work and sacrifices of so many Albertans, we have seen hospitalizations decline significantly over the past few weeks.

From the peak of 943 people in hospital on December 30th, we have declined to 604 today.

From a high of 155 ICU admissions, we are now down to 110.

This is encouraging news, and a signal that we are making meaningful progress.

Every one of us should take pride in this.

However, it also means that there are just as many people in hospital today as there were on December 4, when our acute care system was struggling under the impact of COVID-19.

While hospitalizations are declining, the health system is still feeling this strain today, which impacts anyone who needs care, regardless of whether it is from COVID or any other reason.

For example, let’s consider someone who has a heart attack, or someone who falls and breaks their wrist.

Both of these require hospital care and have nothing to do with COVID-19.

In both cases, the large number of COVID beds that are currently occupied with patients, and the precautions that must be taken to prevent the spread of the virus in hospital, mean there are fewer beds available when patients arrive.

When we have a high number of COVID-19 patients requiring care, this means that hospital units fill up faster and there are fewer spaces available for those who suffer strokes, heart attacks or other ailments.

If we’re not careful, people who need to be admitted to hospital can then spend longer in the emergency department while waiting for a bed.

This, in turn, can lead emergency departments to fill up faster, challenging their ability to take new arrivals, leaving Albertans with broken bones and other less severe needs in waiting rooms.

These are only two examples.

The high numbers of hospitalizations also impacts all patients in other ways, from reducing the number of doctors and nurses available for frontline care, to forcing us to postpone some non-urgent, scheduled surgeries to free up capacity.

Thankfully, Alberta Health Services and Covenant Health have done an incredible job over this past year of ensuring that care is available for people who need it throughout this pandemic.

No one should ignore symptoms of cancer, stroke, heart disease or other important conditions.

Everyone should know that if they are in need of urgent care, that care is available.

To keep it that way, it is essential that we keep the restrictions in place for a little while longer, so we can ensure care is readily available for all Albertans across the province, whatever their health needs are.

I know these measures are profoundly impacting many people, and I understand the desire of some to move forward now and hope that things turn out okay.

We are monitoring the situation in the province and hope to update Albertans soon on when some of the current restrictions may be safely eased.

Until then, it is essential that we all continue to follow the measures in place.

This is how we protect our health system and each other.

Thank you, and I’m happy to take questions.