Check against delivery.

Thank you, Tom. Good afternoon everyone.

Before I begin, I want to recognize all Albertans in areas under enhanced status for their efforts in implementing the new measures that came into effect Friday.

I’ve heard from several faith leaders and many others who made sure to put the new measures into practice.

I know that it takes additional effort and attention to make that happen, and I want to thank everyone who has helped limit the spread over the past several days.

Throughout this pandemic a great many people have been working very hard to protect their loved ones and their community. Thank you for this great work and please keep it up.

At the same time, I am also aware of concerning reports about activities in malls and other settings over the weekend.

We all must do our part. I recognize the right of people to protest, and we have issued detailed guidance to help Albertans do so safely.

I encourage Albertans to follow this guidance to keep each other safe.

Turning to today’s update, over the last 24 hours, we have identified 1,733 new cases of COVID-19 in Alberta, and completed about 20,500 new tests.

This means that our provincial positivity rate currently sits at about 8.4% and we have 16,454 active cases.

There are 453 people in hospital, of those, 96 are in the ICU.

Sadly, there were 8 deaths related to COVID-19 reported to us in the past 24 hours.

My thoughts are with everyone who knew and loved these individuals, as they mourn the passing of their parent, sibling, loved one or friend.

I also offer condolences to all those who are mourning the loss of a loved one today from any cause.

Turning to schools, there are currently active alerts or outbreaks in 376 schools, or about 16% of schools in Alberta.

Currently these schools have a combined total of 1,405 active cases.

This number includes 203 schools with outbreaks, including 88 currently on the watch list.

With students in grades 7 to 12 moving to online learning today, we can expect to see a reduction in the number of cases, outbreaks and alerts attributed to schools in the coming days.

I do want to be clear: there is a lag time between actions and results.

While cases may not be attributed to schools as students are at home, they will still be reflected in our overall active cases.

Like all Albertans, I am alarmed by the rising case numbers reported today and over the weekend.

This is another reminder that COVID-19 has a long incubation period, meaning the actions we take today will not be seen until 10-14 days from now.

I suspect that we will continue to see cases and hospitalizations rise over the next several days, as we wait for the impact of the restrictions that were announced last week.

Each of us must remain more vigilant than ever.

We need to bend the curve and lower the number of active cases now to protect each other and the health system.

I know we are all feeling a lot of different emotions about where we are at right now.

Anger, guilt, fear, sadness, denial, and bargaining are all common themes.

As I was reminded recently, these are the stages of grief, and we need to give ourselves permission to experience whatever emotions show up for us.

Experiencing these emotions is a normal part of grieving all that we have lost to COVID-19.

These emotions do not mean that we have lost the battle, just that it is a hard one to fight.

The more we can support each other to keep going while acknowledging the difficulty of these days, the better off we will all be.

As I’ve said before, there is no silver bullet to combatting COVID-19.

It takes a number of efforts together to minimize transmission – including physical distancing, wearing masks, and practicing good hand hygiene regularly– and we need to continue with these for months to come.

I know this can seem overwhelming but I need every Albertan to focus on how they can change their lives right now to protect their communities.

This pandemic has been here for months now and we have all formed habits with respect to how we navigate our daily lives.

The growing spread of COVID touches every part of our province and society.

I am very concerned about growing outbreaks in continuing care facilities and met with operators and staff last week to get their input on how to move forward.

We also continue to see a growing number of other outbreaks, including a recent outbreak at the Calgary Remand Centre.

There are now 41 active cases linked to this outbreak. 

AHS is working closely with local officials to make sure that strict outbreak protocols are maintained and aggressive testing is underway.

AHS is also working to support the outbreak at the Edmonton Convention Centre.

We take any outbreak in a congregate living setting very seriously, and my local health colleagues are working to ensure that anyone at risk is tested, isolated and properly supported.

As you know, last week, we announced new measures to reduce community spread, many of which came into force on Friday.

As I mentioned earlier, we can expect it to take about 10-to-14 days to start seeing results.

This means the actions we all take this week will help shape how the virus is spreading in the lead-up to the holidays.

Bending the curve is critical to protecting those most likely to experience serious outcomes from the virus.

But I want to remind everyone: we are all at risk of COVID-19 – women and men, young and old.

Recovery can be slow for many – lasting weeks or months – with countless ups and downs throughout.

And long-term health impacts for those who get the virus remain unknown.

I have heard directly from people who are facing lasting effects and while we’re still learning about COVID-19, it’s clear that for a significant number of those infected, there is a range of serious long-term effects.

These symptoms can change over time, can affect different systems in the body and can often overlap which reminds us that the impact of this virus can last long after a person is contagious.

By minimizing the spread, we are not only preventing someone from having to isolate at home while they’re infectious, we’re also sparing them from a long list of challenges that could impact their long-term health and their quality of life.

This week, we all need to more vigilant than ever in limiting our contacts with others and slowing the spread of COVID-19.

I know this is a difficult time, but we are still all in this together.

Thank you and I am happy to take questions.