Alberta's COVID-19 test positivity rate of more than 10% 'should concern us all,' Hinshaw says

On a day that Alberta reported 18,243 active cases of COVID-19and 15 additional deaths, the province also reported a record high testpositivity rate.

The positivity rate climbed to 10.5 per cent, a "grim milestone andone that should concern us all," Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, told a news conference Friday.

With almost 17,200 people tested, and one of every 10 testing positive, the total number of new casesin Alberta reached 1,828.

To date 590 people have died in Alberta. As of Friday there were a record 533 people in hospital, including 99in intensive care.

"We are heading into the first weekend of December," Hinshaw said. "In a difficult year, I know this last month may be the toughest for many. This virus can spread quickly from one to many.

"In a month usually marked by festive gatherings, we feel the restrictions more keenly. ButI want to stress the seriousness of the rising case numbers that we're seeing and how crucial it is that we reduce the spread and bend the curve back down."

Here is how the active cases breakdown among the regions:

• Edmonton zone: 8,578 cases
• Calgary zone: 6,666 cases
• Central zone: 1,251 cases
• North zone: 1,012 cases
• South zone: 630 cases
• Unknown: 106 cases

7 deaths at care home in Edmonton's Chinatown

The 15 deaths reported Friday included seven peoplelinkedto anoutbreak at the Edmonton Chinatown Care Centre: four men in their90s, a woman in her 90s, aman in his 80sand a man in his 100s.

Other deaths reported Friday:

• A womanin her 70s linked to the outbreak at Clifton Manor in Calgary.
• A man in his 80s linked to the outbreak at Capital Care Lynnwood in Edmonton.
• A man in his 70s from the Edmontonzone.
• Two men intheir60s from the Edmonton zone.
• A manin his 50s from the Edmonton zone.
• A womanin her 70s from the Central zone.
• A woman inher 90s from the Calgary zone.

Contact tracing getting help

Dr. Verna Yiu,president and CEO of AlbertaHealth Services, told the news conference AHS is working to bolster its troubled contact-tracing system.

"As case numbers have increased exponentially in the past six weeks it has become more and more difficult for our teams to keep up with demand," Yiu said.

"We are rapidly increasing our response to the unprecedented volume of COVID-19 cases in the province."

WATCH | Alberta to ramp up contact tracing efforts:

Alberta aims to have more than 1,800 COVID-19 contact tracers by end of 2020

4 years ago

Duration 1:29

A desperate shortfall of COVID-19 contact tracers is one of the staffing challenges plaguing Alberta, says AHS president and CEO Dr. Verna Yiu.

The province has morethan 900 contact tracers in Alberta and is on track to double that number by the end of the year, Yiu said.

• 3,000 Albertans with COVID will have to trace their own contacts due to backlog

"This means that we will have 36 contact tracers per 100,000 people, which will be on par or better compared to other provinces."

Bending the curve

Albertans are now one week into the latest round of restrictions aimed at bending the curveof COVID-19 cases in the province.

Last Friday,Premier JasonKenney orderedjunior and senior high schools to close, barred indoor social gatherings andcapped capacity forbusinesses.

Next week Albertans will find out what impact those measuresare having onthe virus, which is spreading faster in Alberta than anywhere else in the country.

It was the second set of restrictions issued by the premier in November.

Three weeks ago,Kenneysuspendedindoor group fitness programs, team sports andgroup performance activities,and reducedoperating hours for restaurants, bars and pubs in cities.

But the curve didn't bend and the virus has continuedto surge since, setting records almost daily as it tightens its grip on the province.

• Alberta has new COVID-19 measures on gatherings and businesses. Here's what has changed.
• Alberta restricts recreational sports, bar hours to contain COVID-19 surge

The province's contact-tracing system is struggling against demand.Alberta's governmentcontinues to resist calls to adopt the federal contact-notification app or order a province-wide mask law.

It is also continuing to spurn calls by physicians foratwo-week lockdown, or "circuit-breaker,"to drop the effective reproduction number and allowcontact tracing to catch up.

WATCH | Alberta requests field hospitals from Ottawa:

Alberta asks Ottawa and the Red Cross for field hospitals

4 years ago

Duration 2:42

The Alberta government is in talks with Ottawa and the Canadian Red Cross for help in setting up field hospitals, as the number of COVID-19 patients continues to surge.

This week, the province acknowledged it is preparing for the worst. Alberta has askedthe federal government for two field hospitals, and the Red Cross for two more.

Alberta hospitals are preparing to double-bunk critically ill patients, revampoperating and recovery rooms and reassign staff to treat an expected surge of COVID-19 patients destined for intensive care units.

AHS has asked hospitals in Calgary to begin rationing oxygen.