Thread by @JWongGlobalNews

@CMOH_Alberta says there's a backlog of cases for contact tracers. Positive cases have received results but AHS has not been able to do contact tracing investigation.

Effective tomorrow, if 10 days have passed since you received a positive test result, AHS will no longer call you to do a contact tracing investigation.

Hinshaw says she's asked AHS to start with the most recently diagnosed cases and work backwards through the backlog.

Also, effective today, all Albertans who test positive will receive a text message instead of a phone call when their isolation period ends.

New numbers:
-1549 new cases
-19500 tests
-provincial positivity rate: 8%
-5 new deaths
-328 in hospital with 62 in ICU

It's clear we've reached a precarious point, the virus is growing faster and more widely than any other point in the pandemic, Hinshaw says.

Hinshaw says she is providing recommendations to Cabinet after this update. We will hear what decisions are made tomorrow.

There will be updates every single day this week, Hinshaw says. (This was the case when the pandemic first started, before it reduced to 2/3 a week)

What restrictions are you going to propose? Hinshaw says there is no one single way through this pandemic and decisions around restrictions are challenging. (I don't think she is going to answer this one)

Will we see non-essential businesses closing or are you focusing on targeted measures? Hinshaw says there are a variety of options for consideration and her role is to provide recommendations.

MLAs have downplayed pandemic then backtracked, how difficult is this when trying to get info out? Hinshaw says we need everyone to pull together and she's grateful for the support of those reinforcing messages.

What are you projecting for hospitalizations/ICUs? Hinshaw says we will see a rise in both over the coming 2-3 weeks and would see that independent of any measures introduced.

Why are you not sharing which recommendations you're bringing to Cabinet? Hinshaw says her role is to make recommendations and for elected officials to decide which options to go forward on.

Should measures have been done earlier? Hinshaw says #AB is not unique in seeing an increase and the only benefit of looking backwards is to figure out how to move better forward.

Sadly, I wasn't picked to ask a question today😢