Coming up in 15 minutes: globalnews.ca/news/7733440/a…
New numbers from @jkenney:
-875 new cases
-of which 322 are variants of concern
-292 in hospital including 59 in ICU
-4 new deaths
Today marks the second day where cases are over 800, Kenney says.
Kenney issues a plea - Please follow the restrictions this weekend and in the weeks to come. Please remember there is a ban on socializing indoors, except for people in your household, he says.
If you get together, do it outdoors, Kenney says. Not gathering indoors is the single most important thing we can do at this time.
The leading indicators are telling us we are now in a significant new wave of #COVID19, Kenney says.
Kenney says in the race between vaccines and variants, the variants are winning.
He says the "simple math" shows with 8600 active cases, with a case to hospitalization ratio of 6%, with variants sending more people to hospital, we will have close to 500 #COVID19 patients just 2 weeks from now.
If the growth continues at its current pace, that will turn into 1000 people in hospital a month from now.
(Above is attributed to Kenney)
He says 33% of cases are made up of the B117 variant. This is up from 13% previously.
Kenney says #AB has administered 90% of the vaccines it has received. He believes the province can, in the future, administer up to 400k vaccines a week.
Hinshaw explains why another spike would put us all at risk: Albertans 75+ have been vaccinated but others can still face severe outcomes.
In the 2nd wave, there was a daily average of 500 Albertans under 75 in hospital with 119 of them needing ICU and 5 dying every day, Hinshaw says.
The average age of hospitalization is 62 and the average age of those needing ICU is 58, Hinshaw says.
Lethbridge mayor asking for more focused messaging in the south zone, response? Kenney says a growing number of ppl are ignoring public health measures and socializing in large groups. He hopes the recent surge of cases was a "wake up call."
Will #AB shorten period btw 1st and 2nd dose if vaccines arrive earlier than expected? Hinshaw says 4 month interval is for vaccine shortages. As province gets supply, they will offer 2nd doses as quickly as possible, she says.
Research showing 1 shot for those w/cancer, elderly does not protect them against infection, thoughts on not following through w/manufacturing timelines? Hinshaw says they're waiting for NACI perspective to help them understand if shorter interval recommended for certain groups
Will you loosen/tighten sports rules as we enter spring? Hinshaw says they're seeing cases in all different settings, including fitness facilities and some team practice settings. It's not something they want to restrict further.
If there's a surplus of AstraZeneca vaccines, will it be offered to those under 55 if they want? Hinshaw says the AB Advisory Committee on Immunization has not discussed that yet.
Why are we not taking action to curb the spread? Kenney is calling on Albertans to follow the measures. He says if ppl don't comply with current measures, they won't comply with additional ones. He says they haven't closed the door to possibility of additional targeted measures.
If they didn't listen before, what makes you think they will listen now? Kenney says people respond to the numbers. He points to Lethbridge numbers that stabilized after a surge. It seemed to get people's attention, he said.
How much do you think reopening contributed to increase? Kenney says there is growing non-compliance. Hinshaw says #AB would likely have seen an increase no matter what because people want to do the things they love.
Are we repeating what happened in the fall? Kenney says this is a different situation and #AB has expanded contact tracing, expanded healthcare capacity. He again pleas for people to take this seriously.
Jan 29, you said #AB would impose restrictions if there's exponential growth and we've now in that situation, how do you reconcile that? Kenney says non-compliance is driving viral spread. He says compliance matters more than stringency of rules.
No update from @CMOH_Alberta Tues, Wed and no detailed data over the long weekend, are you worried this could send the wrong msg? Hinshaw says they'll still provide case numbers, positivity %, etc. Kenney says they added his presence today to underscore seriousness of situation.
AFL claims province lied to Cargill workers in early days of pandemic, response? Kenney says they were transparent and forthcoming and followed medical advice.
Do you reject that claim? Kenney says he doesn't know the basis of it. He received briefings about the outbreaks and that was the source of his knowledge.

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More from @JWongGlobalNews

24 Nov 20
Operator just told us the call will be taking place "shortly." The waiting continues...
Kenney starts by saying yesterday's meeting was 8 hours long.
There is no one single way through this pandemic, Kenney says.
Read 38 tweets
23 Nov 20
@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.
Read 15 tweets
6 Nov 20
Kenney says there were 802 #COVID cases yday and 609 are being reported today.
He says there are 171 people in hospital with 33 in ICU.
He says #AB is at a turning point. If we don't bend the curve, we will face tougher choices in the days ahead, the premier says.
Read 20 tweets
6 Nov 20
If you test positive for #COVID19 now and aren't in a priority setting, you have to do your own contact tracing. Here's the script from AHS:
"Hi – this is ___ (name of positive case). I am calling to inform you that I have tested positive for COVID-19. 1/4
2/4 "Alberta Health Services recommends that I notify you that you have been exposed to COVID-19. I am sorry to have to tell you this. It’s very important that you MUST immediately self-isolate, and go to ahs.ca/covid,
3/4 "to complete the online assessment and go for COVID-19 testing. According to my files, you were exposed to me on ___ (date that this person was in close contact with you). You will need to isolate for 14 days from that date."
Read 4 tweets
5 Nov 20
@CMOH_Alberta starts by saying, due to a technical issue, there will not be detailed case numbers today.
However, she does say there are about 800 cases in the last 24 hours.
She says the measures introduced 10 days ago, which may have helped cases plateau, are not having enough of an effect.
Read 17 tweets
15 Sep 20
I sat down with @AdrianaLaGrange today for a 45-minute chat about back to school. We discussed a lot, here are some bullet points:
With outbreaks and hundreds of students in isolation, can we really say this school year has been a success? LaGrange says it's just the start of the school year and the cases in schools were not contracted in schools, they were from the community. #ABEd
Why not just hire more teachers to reduce class sizes, isn't that cost worth it? LaGrange says it isn't about the cost, it's about whether there are tens of thousands of teachers out there. She says school divisions have been enabled to do what they need to do. #ABEd
Read 12 tweets

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