Thank you, Minister, and good afternoon everyone.
I’d like to begin today by reminding Albertans that is it important to seek medical care when you need it.
During this pandemic, we are all trying to do the right thing – maintaining physical distancing, wearing masks, saying no to social gatherings.
As announced yesterday, we are at a critical point in this pandemic.
Now more than ever we need to be careful and cautious in our daily activities.
For some people this means working from home, for all of us it means no social gatherings with anyone outside our household, or two people for those who live alone.
For some, this has also meant choosing to delay a doctor’s visit out of fear or anxiety. But that is not what we mean when we say to be careful.
Please do not avoid going to the doctor if you need to. This can lead to serious problems if health concerns go unchecked.
COVID-19 has put a lot of things on hold, but your health should not be one of them.
During this pandemic, it has become clear that Albertans are not seeking medical attention as often as they normally would, or should.
This trend is not unique to Alberta.
It has been identified across Canada and many other countries.
But we need to change that.
The health system in Alberta remains a safe place to go if you need help.
It is open and ready to help diagnose and manage illnesses and diseases.
Alberta Health Services and the Alberta Cancer Foundation are reminding Albertans about the importance of listening to their bodies and seeking medical attention if they notice any changes.
The pandemic is spreading a new illness, not stopping existing ones.
Please talk with your healthcare provider so they can investigate any new, persistent symptoms.
This includes things like an unusual or growing lump; significant blood in stool, urine or phlegm; or growth or the darkening of a mole.
These can all be signs of serious health issues, including cancer.
It is important that we catch these things early.
An early cancer diagnosis can offer more effective treatment options, has better survival rates and provides better quality of life after a diagnosis.
However, diagnosing cancer early is a complex process.
It requires a person to notice a change in their body that is persistent or worsening and then requires them to seek medical attention.
Often, multiple interactions between patients and different healthcare providers are needed to arrive at a diagnosis.
Sometimes this happens quickly, but it can also take time.
The sooner this process starts, the better off that person is.
That is why it is important to continue to have health conversations with your health care provider, pandemic or not.
If you notice any changes that concern you, book an appointment with your family doctor or nurse practitioner.
If you do not have a family doctor, you can find one by calling 811 Health Link or by visiting albertafindadoctor.ca.
Turning to today’s cases…
Over the last 24 hours, we have identified 1,460 new cases of COVID-19 in Alberta, and completed about 16,800 new tests.
This means our positivity rate is still high, at about 8.9%
There are 685 people in hospital, including 121 who have been admitted to the ICU.
Looking to schools, there are currently active alerts or outbreaks in 428 schools, or about 18 per cent of schools in the province.
As a reminder, junior and senior high students are now learning at home. So while we are attributing cases to 428 schools, only 293 of these are still open with students.
Currently these schools have a combined total of 1,726 cases.
This number includes 109 schools on the watch list.
Sadly, there have now been 653 deaths related to COVID-19.
My thoughts and sympathies are with all the family, friends and communities grieving the loss of someone they loved.
Today, I want to provide some additional information on surgeries.
As I mentioned yesterday, COVID-19 is impacting our health system, and AHS is putting additional surge measures in place in Edmonton Zone.
These additional measures, as I mentioned, include postponing as much as 60 per cent of non-urgent, scheduled surgeries that require a hospital stay.
Within these constraints, the government and Alberta Health Services are still working to ensure as many Albertans as possible continue to receive needed surgeries in the coming days.
As I mentioned yesterday, AHS will continue to support Albertans who require emergent or urgent surgeries.
This includes surgeries resulting from major and minor trauma, urgent cancer, cardiac or vascular surgery cases.
AHS is also working to continue to perform as many surgeries as possible across the province.
Depending on the number of Albertans with COVID-19 who are hospitalized in different zones and sites, surgeries will continue to the maximum extent safely possible.
To make sure that as many of these surgeries as possible can continue, we all need to work together to reduce our cases so the pressure on the healthcare system is reduced.
The vaccine delivery announced earlier by Minister Shandro is exciting news.
It is remarkable that we will have a vaccine available in the same year that this pandemic arrived in Canada.
However, as I’ve said before, while the arrival of a vaccine is positive news, it will be some time before we can immunize most Albertans.
Until then, we must be the vaccine for each other.
Finally, I know that there are many questions about the new measures announced yesterday, and we are working hard to address them.
Please continue to visit the alberta.ca/covid site for updated information and guidance.
I have heard some confusion around outdoor gatherings, and would like to help clarify.
As of yesterday, outdoor social gatherings with anyone outside your household are prohibited.
This includes getting together in a park or around a bonfire.
We have not changed people’s ability to participate in outdoor sports and recreation in groups up to 10 people.
This reflects the ability of people to do these events while keeping distanced, and wanting to keep options open for physical fitness in outdoor settings.
However, I am also asking Albertans to please
follow the spirit of the restrictions that are now in place.
This is about reducing the spread, not finding loopholes.
Please don’t go skating or skiing with groups of friends if you can go with your household instead.
Stick to your household.
If you are unsure about what to, please err on the side of caution and make the safest choice.
Remember: the goal is to bend the curve, not the rules.
This is a challenging virus. While COVID-19 cases can accelerate very fast, they decelerate more slowly.
The long incubation period means that hospitalizations and ICU admissions will likely continue to rise in the coming weeks.
In other words, the path down the peak is often much slower than the way up.
I know it’s been a hard year and many of us are tired, but we need determination and resolve now more than ever.
These next few weeks will determine how we enter 2021 – with cases soaring or with them starting to level off or even decline.
So please be careful, let’s be kind to each other and embrace the collective responsibility that we all share.
Let’s stop the spread of COVID, and do everything we can to enhance the spread of compassion.
Thank you and we are happy to answer any questions.