EDMONTON – Update from Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health on the latest efforts and results on COVID-19 in the province.
Mandatory restrictions remain in effect. All Albertans must continue to do their part to protect the health-care system and bend the curve of COVID-19.
Latest updates
- Over the last 24 hours, 1,307 new cases were identified.
- There are 479 people in hospital due to COVID-19, including 97 in intensive care.
- There are 16,628 active cases in the province.
- To date, 42,305 Albertans have recovered from COVID-19.
- There was an increase of 15,816 tests (2,270,972 total) for a total of 1,480,386 people tested.
- The testing positivity rate is 8.4 per cent.
- All zones across the province have cases:
- Calgary Zone: 6,162 active cases and 17,998 recovered
- South Zone: 672 active cases and 3,215 recovered
- Edmonton Zone: 7,552 active cases and 16,297 recovered
- North Zone: 895 active cases and 2,965 recovered
- Central Zone: 1,249 active cases and 1,700 recovered
- 98 active cases and 130 recovered cases in zones to be confirmed
- Additional information, including case totals, is online.
- Currently, 393 schools, about 16 per cent, are on alert or have outbreaks, with 1,453 cases in total.
- Of those, 186 schools are on alert, with 281 total cases.
- Outbreaks are declared in 207 schools, including 92 on watch, with a total of 1,172 cases.
- So far, in-school transmission has likely occurred in 241 schools. Of these, 123 have had only one new case result.
- Based on data available to date, 267 schools have been removed from the alert list.
- There are 744 active and 2,524 recovered cases at long-term care facilities and supportive/home living sites.
- To date, 351 of the 551 reported deaths (64 per cent) have been in long-term care facilities or supportive/home living sites
- In the last 24 hours, there were 10 additional COVID-related deaths reported: one on Nov. 24, one on Nov. 25, two on Nov. 26, one on Nov. 27, three on Nov. 29, and two on Nov. 28.
- The total number of COVID-19 related deaths is now 551.
- Alberta is reporting case numbers and information daily, including on weekends and holidays.
Strong restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19
- Strong, targeted public health measures are in place across Alberta. These include mandatory provincewide measures and those targeted at regions under enhanced status.
- These restrictions and increased enforcement are intended to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in communities, protect hospitals, keep schools, places of worship and businesses open as much as possible, and better protect vulnerable Albertans.
- Though announced on Nov. 24, it will take several weeks to determine the full impact of these restrictions on the spread of COVID-19.
- All existing guidance and legal orders remain in place in all areas.
- Alberta Health, AHS and local municipalities continue to closely monitor the spread across the province.
School health measures
- Students in Grades 7 to 12 are attending school through at-home learning until Jan. 8, except during Winter Break, and will continue at-home learning after the break and resume in-person classes on Jan. 11.
- Students in kindergarten to Grade 6 will continue in-person learning until their scheduled Winter Break, move to at-home learning after the break, and resume in-person classes on Jan. 11.
- Students with disabilities and students in outreach programs who require support and services that cannot be met through at-home learning can continue to receive supports and services in-person at school.
- An online map lists schools with two or more confirmed cases, updated every school day.
Enforcement of public health measures
- The government is granting certain Alberta peace officers and community peace officers temporary authority to enforce public health orders.
- Expanding these authorities will increase the number of officers able to levy fines by about 700.
- Not following mandatory restrictions could result in fines of $1,000 per ticketed offence and up to $100,000 through the courts.
International traveller COVID-19 pilot
- An Alberta-Canada joint pilot program is testing an alternative to the 14-day quarantine requirement for international travellers while continuing to protect Canadians from COVID-19.
- Participants are closely monitored daily for symptoms and must follow enhanced preventive health measures, such as wearing masks in public places and avoiding visiting high-risk groups.
Albertans downloading tracer app
- All Albertans are encouraged to download the secure ABTraceTogether app, which is integrated with provincial contact tracing. The federal app is not a contact tracing app.
- Secure contact tracing is an effective tool to stop the spread by notifying people who were exposed to a confirmed case so they can isolate and be tested.
- Early issues have been fixed so the app can run in the background of all mobile devices.
- As of Nov. 30, 280,121 Albertans were using the ABTraceTogether app, 66 per cent on iOS and 34 per cent on Android. On average, 11 new users were registering every hour.
- Secure contact tracing is a cornerstone of Alberta’s Relaunch Strategy.
