Thread by @BarbLarochelle

We’ll see how long I can last for the Alberta covid update today. It’s starting late. Are Kenney & Shandro expected?

They’re obviously going to have to spin pretty hard on the ‘pastor in shackles arrested for preaching’ story.

Shandro is starting. He is updating about contact tracing. He’s going through the numbers of how many there are. 2300 in Alberta. 41 per 100,000 Albertans.

They reach all + cases within 24 hours of test results. I will say at the end of Nov. they NEVER contacted us about the covid case at our house and they still haven’t until this day.

The capacity is there and they have met their recruitment targets and they continue to hire, says Shandro. They have a dedicated team working with schools who notify within 24 hours. Again, personal note that this is new and was not happening before Christmas.

They have refined technology for online booking and self-assessment. They can indicate language so contact tracers can have a translator available.

I feel like Shandro is going to give us a lecture about being mean to contact tracers...

They have 50 contact tracers dedicated just to the variant strains. They have identified 239 cases of variants so far.

They have had to deal with hang ups, anger, and abuse, says Shandro. “Remember that they can be trusted. Please do your part and understand that they are on the line to help you.” It’s not about blame, says Shandro.

Now Shandro talks about ‘removing the need of burdensome covid restrictions’. And, he points out how we’re winning in turning the trend down against selected other provinces. ‘Only’ 8 hospitals in Alberta have outbreaks right now!

Shandro says it is safe to move forward with the ‘careful, staged reopening.’

Dr. Joffe is sharing an update on the contact tracing system. He is ‘highlighting’ examples. Basically repeating what Shandro just said. New cases have been trending down for several weeks. New cases have had 5-6 close contacts. In November, the average was 15 contacts.

He is repeating how many contact tracers we have and how many we started with.

This would be a good opportunity to ask why we can’t have #covidalert

Now he talks about AHS and their strong community partnerships.

Dr. Hinshaw has the covid numbers for today.
First she is talking about GraceLife Church. For months AHS has been attempting to work with them, but their ‘attempts were not successful in bringing the church into alignment’.

The pastor was taken into custody but refused to agree to comply with the restrictions if he was released. The situation is ‘unfortunate, but this is a rare incident’. The vast majority of faith communities have been complying.

She reminds us that we have some of the least restrictive rules in the country for faith-based gatherings. She says the pandemic has gone on a long time and we are all frustrated and tired.

415 new cases on 10,300 tests for 4.2%+
250 or 10% of schools have active alerts
854 cases in schools since Jan. 11
362 in hospital
7 new deaths.

Dr. Hinshaw is also thanking the contact tracers. It is obviously celebrate the contact tracers day!

She is asking people to think of others when working with contact tracers and how refusing to cooperate might impact them. Because selfish covidiots care about that stuff, I guess.

Julia Wong asks Shandro what factors are they looking at to prioritize the vaccinations and when, specifically will we know details. He says it’s based on vulnerability and equity, based on evidence going to the cabinet covid committee. Also “Premier says we will announce soon.”

Kevin Nimmock presses for a specific answer. “You didn’t answer the question”. Shandro says he will answer a second time. It will be ‘fairly soon’. ‘Thanks for letting me repeat that again.’ Sounds like ‘In due course...’

Question about why it has taken it so long to get these translators and other supports in place? The big outbreak started in November.

Dr. Hinshaw serves up an extra large word salad in response to a question about the meat processing plant. No idea what she said.

A reporter asks Shandro again whether the decision on how to prioritize who gets vaccinations has gone to the cabinet committee yet or not. Also, do people who get vaccinated get some type of documentation like a little stamped card?

Dr. Hinshaw says yes, and it will be on the MyHealth portal as well.

Shandro says , “Look, we have developed recommendations and we hope to be able to make an announcement soon. That’s all I’m going to be saying about that today.”

Councillors in Wheatland county are encouraging people to break the rules because they don’t agree with them. They are openly defying. What is Shandro’s message to them? Shandro says “We are each other’s vaccine.”

“I get the frustration that people have with the restrictions.” He says we have lighter restrictions than many places but people are still stressed. Many people are following the restrictions and that’s why the numbers are coming down.

James Keller asks about the meat plant in Red Deer and an AHS letter recommending but not requiring all workers to be tested. Why not mandatory? Dr. Hinshaw says it’s voluntary for people who are not close contacts.

They recommend but do not require an ‘invasive procedure’.

630 CHED asks Shandro about the accelerated rollout news from the federal government. What will we be doing. Shandro says it’s only an acceleration from the previous slow down, so we still have the capacity to do what we were going to do.

He says the issue is not the capacity, but the changing amounts and restrictions in supply to Albertans. Once we have a constant and steady supply we will be able to get out as many vaccines as we receive. If we receive an unforeseen amount, we will have capacity.

However, since they don’t know or won’t say who will get it, that seems disingenuous.