Everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Tuesday, May 4

The latest on restrictions and reopenings:

• As Alberta's total active COVID-19 case count climbs to new heights daily and it continues to have the highest cases per capita of any province or state in North America, Premier Jason Kenney has announced new public health measures.
• "We will not permit our health-care system to be overwhelmed," Kenney said, saying that could happen in a matter of weeks if case growth doesn't slow.
• All K-12 students in the province will move to online learning at the end of the weekuntil May 25, after the May long weekend. The premier said 80,000 students and staff are already in self-isolation. All post-secondary classes will also move online.
• Workplaces with COVID-19 outbreaks now must close for 10 days, unless they areessentialworkplaces.
• Restaurants must move to take-out only, meaning patios must close.
• Retail will be limited to 10 per cent of fire code occupancy.
• Outdoor social gatherings will be limited to five people, and you are recommended to limit gatherings to a maximum of two different family cohorts.
• Places of worship are limited to 15 people and funerals are limited to 10 people.
• All indoor fitness activities must close, as well as hair salons, nail salons.
• Outdoor sports are limited to household and close contacts only.
• The fine for violations is doubling from $1,000 to $2,000
• The new public health measures apply to all parts of Alberta exceptthose with fewer than 50 cases per 100,000 people and fewer than 30 active cases.
• The full list of current restrictions is available on the province's website.
• The premier saidAlbertans who are ignoring the public health rules"will not be tolerated."

• However, critics say Kenney'sown messaging has been confusing and contradictoryduring the pandemic. Last week, for example, Kenney saidno new laws were necessary, but days later instituted new regulations in so-called COVID-19 hot spots, calling them critical to bending the curve. The flipflops continued Monday, ashe said further restrictions wouldn't have an impact then said he would be imposing more on Tuesday.
• The United Conservative Party government also has been accused repeatedly of ignoringcalls fromthe medical communityto be quicker and broader when imposing restrictions and less hasty in removing them.
• The apparent lackof enforcement for violators of public health restrictions hasalso been a hot button.
• For example, critics noted the rodeo and other rallies against public-health measures wereadvertised in advance, but authorities seem to have done little to ensure public-health measures were followed at the events and violators ticketed or charged.
• Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi criticised the premierfor the conflicting messages on Monday, as well as saying he's finding it "incredibly frustrating" that tickets being given to people for breaching COVID-19 public health orders are being thrown out in the courts. Calgary police Chief Mark Neufeldconfirmed Monday that the province had askedthe police to not clog the already overburdened courts by writing too many tickets for COVID-19 violators.
• According to the province, from March 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021, there were 576 tickets filed in provincial court under the Public Health Act. Of those, 38 per cent are still before the court, 12 per cent resulted in conviction or were paid before reaching court, and 10 per cent were quashed or otherwise resolved.

WATCH | Alberta premier frustrated by COVID-19 deniers:

Alberta premier frustrated with Albertas COVID-deniers

3 years ago

Duration 2:19

Premier Jason Kenney says some Albertans COVID-19 denial is as astounding as it is aggravating - and that people need to get board with restrictions and vaccinations.

• Edmonton Mayor Don Ivesonalso called out the province on its approach to COVID-19 on Monday, saying it should have imposed wider restrictions throughout the province last week.
• And NDP Leader Rachel Notley said the half-measures Kenney has put in place are not working, repeating calls for the UCP government toprovide paid sick leave and effective enforcement across all of Alberta. The NDP is also demanding all the data around decision-making for restrictions and all of thewritten recommendations to cabinet from Alberta's chief medical health officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw.
• "The worst part about all of this is how predictable and preventable all of this was," said Calgary emergency room physician Dr Joe Vipond, one of the doctors who has been sounding the alarm about Alberta's COVID-19 situation for months. "We should have known this was where this was going, especially with the variants. It's pretty devastating."
• The previousround of restrictions were imposed on April 30, whenthe provincial government implementednew public-health measures in hot spots across the provincewhere there are more than 350 active cases per 100,000 people and at least 250 total active cases.
• The list of targeted communities includedEdmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray, Red Deer, Grande Prairie, Airdrie, Lethbridge, andStrathcona County.
• All junior and senior high schools in the targeted communities moved to at-home learning starting May 3, though some had already shifted to online learning.
• Indoor fitness and indoor sports were shut down in these communities as ofApril 30.
• The mandatory restrictionswere to remain in effect for a minimum of two weeks.

The latest COVID-19 numbers:

• On Tuesday,Alberta again reported itshighest total of active cases since the pandemic began, with 23,623active cases.
• Alberta reported 1,743 new cases of COVID-19.
• The province's testing positivity rate is now 12per cent, after reaching its highest ever on Monday at 13.2 which means one in eight Albertans tested have COVID-19.
• The province has thehighest active case rate in Canada and the United States, with 534active cases per 100,000 people more than twice that of the case rate of 251in Ontario.
• There are now 671people in hospital with COVID-19, including 150people in intensive care.
• Nine more people havedied, for a total of2,099deaths.
• The latestR-valuereported for the province was1.12, significantly higher than last week's R-value of 1.04, meaning the virus is spreading to more people for each confirmed case.
• 172,931Albertans have recovered from COVID-19.
• Currently, 808schools, about 33per cent of all schools in Alberta, are on alert or have outbreaks. In-school transmission is believed to have occurred in 678 schools.
• Due to an increase in the number of Albertans in the Calgary zone requesting a COVID-19 test, it may takethree to five days from the time someone makes a request to when testing occurs,AHSsaid last week.
• Alberta is cutting back scheduled surgeries in its two major cities and the northern part of the province to make room for a possible influx of COVID-19 hospitalizations.
• On May 1, the province stopped screening all positive tests for variants of concern, in order to maintain required lab capacity for COVID-19 testing. Variant screening will now target populations with a higher risk of being infected with a variant, or a higher risk of spreading variant strains.

(Note the latest daily count of new cases in the above chart will usually vary slightly from the net new cases Alberta Health announces each day. For more on why, click here.)

The latest on vaccines:

• Kenneyannounced Monday that teachers, child-care workers and school support staff are now eligible to be vaccinated.
• Albertanscategorized in the rest of the Phase 2C and 2D vaccine rolloutplan becameeligible to book appointments as ofApril 30.
• Albertans in thesefinalgroups of Phase 2 include front-line disability workers and workers in group homes and othersupportive living sites, workers at locations with potential for large outbreaks, police officers and provincial sheriffs, all Albertans aged 50 and older, and all First Nations, Mtis and Inuit (FNMI) persons aged 35 and older.
• The province has also expandedthe number of peopleeligible due to underlying health conditions.As of April 27, those born between 2006 and 2009 with qualifying conditions can book appointments for the Pfizer-BioNTechvaccine.
• Alberta Healthsaid on April 30that thevast majority of doses of the province's supply of AstraZeneca-Oxford have now been administered or booked. Existing bookings will be honoured.
• 1,668,455vaccinedoses have been administered in Alberta, includingPfizer-BioNTech, Modernaand AstraZeneca-Oxford.
• 303,509Albertans have been fully immunized (2 doses).

The latest on more dangerous variants:

• There were876new casesinvolvingvariants of concern reportedon Tuesday. On Monday, the provincereported 1,900the highest number of new variant cases reported in a single day.
• About 62.3per cent of active cases have been identified as variants of concern, but not all cases arebeingscreened for variants.
• There are14,728active variant cases,while21,063people have recovered and 99people have died from variant infections.
• Alberta had33,815 cases linked to variant B117, first detected in the United Kingdom; 114caseslinked to variant B1351, first detected in South Africa;twocases linked to variant B1617, first detected in India; and1,959caseslinked to the variant P1, which was first identified inBrazil.
• On May 1, the province stopped screening all positive tests for variants of concern, in order to maintain required lab capacity for COVID-19 testing. Variant screening will now target populations with a higher risk of being infected with a variant, or a higher risk of spreading variant strains.

See which regions are being hit hardest:

You can see active cases by local health area on the following interactive map. Scroll, zoom and click on the map for more information:

Here is thedetailed regional breakdownof active cases as reported by the province on Tuesday:

• Calgary zone:9,889 active cases, downfrom 9,942 active casesreported on Monday (68,706 recovered).
• Edmonton zone: 6,014, downfrom6,033(62,892 recovered).
• North zone: 3,564, up from 3,478(17,740 recovered).
• South zone: 1,260, down from 1,261(9,443recovered).
• Central zone: 2,836, up from 2,807(14,135 recovered).
• Unknown:60, down from 87(15recovered).

Find out which neighbourhoods or communities have the most cases, how hard people of different ages have been hit, the ages of people in hospital, how Alberta compares to other provinces and more in: Here are the latest COVID-19 statistics for Alberta and what they mean.

Here are the latest Alberta COVID-19 stories:

How Alberta compares to other provinces and territories: