Check against delivery.

Thank you, Tom and good afternoon everyone.

Before today’s update, I want to remind anyone who tests positive that it is important to call your family doctor once you receive your results.

In addition to being well-versed in COVID-19, your family physician is most familiar with your health.

They are in the best position to provide medical support and follow-up after a diagnosis.

They can, and will, help to look after you to the best of their abilities.

There are options for virtual appointments, so your doctor can support you without you needing to go in in-person.

Of course, if you have a life-threatening or emergency situation, please don’t hesitate to call 911 for immediate assistance.

Be sure to let the operator know that you’ve tested positive for COVID-19 so the appropriate precautions can be taken while providing medical care.    

For today’s update, over the last 24 hours, we have identified 1,307 additional cases of COVID-19 in Alberta.

Yesterday, we completed more than 15,800 new tests.

Our provincial positivity rate currently sits at about 8.4 per cent, and we now have 16,628 active cases.

There are 479 people in hospital, including 97 who have been admitted to the ICU.

Sadly, there were 10 more deaths related to COVID-19 reported to Alberta Health in the past 24 hours.

I know this is a difficult time to grieve.

And my deepest sympathies are with the families and friends of these individuals and everyone else mourning the loss of a loved one from any cause right now.

I also want to recognize everyone with a loved one in hospital, or an outbreak setting, or who has been impacted by COVID-19 in any way.

This virus impacts all of us.

In schools, there are currently active alerts or outbreaks in 393 schools, about 16% of all schools in Alberta.

Currently these schools have a combined total of 1,453 active cases.

This number includes 207 schools with outbreaks, including 92 currently on the watch list.

With the calendar flipping to December today, I know many people across the province are starting to plan for the holiday season.

For many of us, this upcoming season is about socializing and spending time together.

December is when we typically spend time with family, friends and colleagues – potluck lunches at work, school performances for kids, gatherings in friend’s homes and big family dinners.

It’s been a long, hard year, and I know how important these holidays are to Albertans.

But in a year that is anything but typical – how we celebrate won’t be typical either.

We don’t yet know exactly what restrictions will be in place during the last week of December.  

Cabinet will make those decisions later on this month.

However, in the past we have seen holiday gatherings lead to increases in cases and outbreaks, as one case spreads to many.

For example, Thanksgiving gatherings were an accelerator of spread and the impact is still being felt.

The bottom line is that it only takes one person to start an outbreak.

The higher the rate of community transmission, the more risky these gatherings can be – and our transmission is higher than ever before.

I know it is challenging to make plans as we wait to see what effect the measures announced last week will have, and what will come next.

Right now, though, I am encouraging Albertans to begin preparing for a much different holiday season — and to start thinking of creative ways to celebrate safely.

This is not going to be the year for in-person office parties.

This is not going to be the year for open houses or large dinners with friends and extended family.

If you are making holiday plans, it is best to assume that you will still be limiting contact with anyone outside your household as much as possible, and that any larger get-togethers will likely need to be virtual.

This will be the year for getting together remotely, or for having small outdoor activities where everyone can keep their distance.

Celebrating virtually or with members of your own household pose the lowest risk for spread.

Although this is hard, there are some silver linings to trying out non-traditional ways of coming together.

In my own family, celebrating Easter virtually meant that we connected with family members in many places around the world, not just those who could come to an in-person dinner.

Of course, the options we will have for the upcoming holidays depend on what we all do right now.

The actions we take now and over the coming weeks will determine how the virus is spreading when the holidays arrive.

We all have the power to collectively bend the curve, and it will take all of us to do so.

Thank you and I’m happy to take questions.