Thread by @CBCFletch

So I was on vacation the past couple of weeks and in & out of cell service. But every time I could, I checked in on the Alberta COVID numbers, and things seemed to be getting worse.

Here's what stood out to me...

No. 1: Cases (obviously) are on the rise ...

No. 2: The percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive in Alberta has also been on the rise:

No. 3: There are significant numbers of new cases is EVERY health zone. This is new.

This chart shows cases by zone since the beginning. See all the blue, orange, red, purple AND green at the far right?

That's the first time we've seen something like that in Alberta.

No. 4: This has resulted in growing active caseloads in every health zone.

Not too long ago, the South Zone would go days without a new case. And the Central Zone had a stretch of zero active cases for a while. That's changed.

No. 5: Hospitalization rates are going up. And we haven't seen this many people in ICU since early May.

No. 5(b): To put the hospital numbers in context, we are nowhere near where other large provinces (i.e. ON & QC) were at their peaks, on a per-capita basis.

But those provinces have been trending downward lately, while Alberta is on the opposite trajectory.

No. 6: Deaths are becoming more frequent again.

After a stretch from mid-May to mid-June that saw relatively few COVID-19 deaths, the numbers have been rising in late June & July.

Still well below what we saw in late March, April & early May, but again, the trajectory is upward