Alberta’s chief medical officer of health will give an update Wednesday on the COVID-19 situation in the province.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw will speak at her usual time, 3:30 p.m., and her update will be live streamed in this post.
The update comes one day after the province announced it would be expanding its free self-isolation hotel program and financial supports to targeted communities in Edmonton and Calgary that are seeing high rates of COVID-19 transmission.
The province also officially started its rollout of its vaccination program Tuesday.
A respiratory therapist at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton and an ICU nurse at Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre were the first people in the province to get the Pfizer vaccine.
On Tuesday, the province confirmed 1,341 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the province’s active case total to 20,849. With 16,353 tests done in the last 24 hours, the province’s positivity rate for Tuesday sat at at 8.2 per cent.
Read more:
Alberta health-care workers receive province’s 1st COVID-19 vaccines Tuesday
The province remains under strict restrictions meant to curb the spread of the virus, including a 15 per cent capacity limit for retail and grocery stores, as well as places of worship.
All restaurants, bars, pubs and cafes have closed in-person dining but can still offer takeout. All entertainment venues, recreation facilities, casinos, personal and wellness services have also closed.
Masks are now mandatory in all indoor public spaces and workplaces across the province, with the exception of farm operations and rental accommodations.
All indoor and outdoor social gatherings are also banned.