What you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Monday, August 31

The latest:

• Schools in Alberta are no longer required to maintain two metres for physical distancing in classrooms, following a directive by Alberta's chief medical officer of health.
• Although concerns remain for many parents, students in Alberta are returning to school this week.
• Alberta reported426 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend,133 on Aug. 28, 184 on Aug. 29, and 109 on Aug. 30.
• The province's total active cases now stand at 1,370. A total of 239 people have died.
• An outbreak at a Calgary church is linked to at least 57 cases. Contact tracing is underway.
• One case has been reported at Canyon Meadows School in south Calgary. The school still plans to open.
• Across the province, 44people are being treated in hospital for COVID-19, including eightwho are in ICU beds.

• WestJetis taking tough new measuresstarting Sept. 1againstpassengers who refuse to comply with federal masking rules on flights.
• Alberta is on track to end the current fiscal year with a $24.2-billion deficit, the largest in the province's history, and the finance minister suggests more cuts are on the way.The report reflects Alberta's financial situation in April, May and June, a period when the province was mostly shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and oil prices sunk into negative territory.
• CBC News has compiledall ofthe known outbreaks of COVID-19 in Alberta with graphs and an interactive data visualization.

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: Don't worry if you missed your chance to ask questions in our Facebook Live at 1 p.m. Wednesday with host Shannon Scott and guestsMarilynDennis,chair of the board of trustees for the Calgary Board of Education, and Dr. Raj Bhardwaj, an urgent care doctor working in downtown Calgary. You can still hear their answers by clicking here.

What you need to know today in Alberta:

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has the second lowest approval rating among provincial leaders in Canada, with only about two in five respondents saying the UCP leader is doing a good job handling the pandemic and the struggling economy, according to a new poll.

Schools in Alberta are no longer required to maintain two metres for physical distancing in classrooms, following a directive by Alberta's chief medical officer of health.

The new order, signed on Aug. 29, says "an operator of a school does not need to ensure that students, staff members and visitors are able to maintain a minimum two metres distance from every other person when a student, staff member or visitor is seated at desk or table."

It says this applies within classrooms where tables and chairs are arranged to prevent people from facing each other and allowing the greatest distance possible between seated individuals.

As schools in Alberta opentheir doors to students this week, experts and educators are keeping an eye on mental health concerns as students return to the classroom.

University of Alberta child psychology professor Christina Rinaldi recommendskeeping students fully informed about everything their school is doing, and what they can do themselves, to prevent COVID-19 spread.

Calgary'spublic school board opened the doors of a high school on Friday to media to show how staff are preparing facilities to welcome back students.

What back-to-school looks like in some Calgary schools

4 years ago

Duration 2:46

The Calgary Board of Education released a how-to guide on what back to school will look like. Here's a look from elementary to high school.

CBC News is following four families as they navigate the return to school in the midst of the global pandemic, tracing how the reopening impacts them before and during the return. Here's the first instalment: Getting ready for school.

For post-secondary students, life is much different this year. More than 2,500 new students would normally be settlingintoresidences at the University of Calgary. But this semester, only 900 students are moving in.

As we draw closer to the first week of September, CBC Calgary wants to hear from Alberta's parents, students and teachers in regards to how the process has gone so far.

Across Alberta, mask use is required for staff and students from Grade 4 to Grade 12. In Calgary's public system and within the Catholic school system, maskuse will be required for all students and staff from Kindergarten on.

The Calgary Board of Education has released itsmask guidelinesthat dictate where and when masks must be worn in schools.

There are plenty of other questions parents might have about the return to school. For that, we've created this guide, which we'll update frequently in the coming weeks.

The province has posteda guide detailinghow it will respond to any students or staff who have symptoms in schools, and what protocols will be followed if COVID-19 cases are identified in classrooms.

At least 57 cases of COVID-19 are linked to an outbreak atKidanemehret Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church in northeast Calgary

CBCNews hascurated a list of towns and cities in theprovince, outlining theirpolicies on masks. We'll try to keepitupdatedregularly.

Here's theregional breakdown of active casesacross the province as of Monday:

• Edmonton zone:551active cases.
• Calgary zone:590 active cases.
• North zone:174active cases.
• Central zone:27active cases.
• South zone:24active cases.
• Unknown:4active cases.

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

What you need to know today in Canada:

As of 8:15 a.m. ET on Monday,Canada had 127,940 confirmed and presumptive coronavirus cases. Provinces and territories listed 113,664 of those as recovered or resolved. ACBC News tallyof deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC's reporting stood at 9,154.

Canada's federal government has signed an agreement in principle to acquire up to 76 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine being developed by an American company.

A proposed class-action lawsuit has been launched against the federal government on behalf of Canadians who applied online for COVID-19 emergency aid only to have their personal and financial information stolen by hackers.

Canada's economy shrank at the fastest pace on record in the second quarter, as consumer spending, business investment, imports and exports all dried up because of COVID-19.

Statistics Canada reported Friday that the country's gross domestic product shrank by11.5 per cent in the three-month period between April and June. That's a38.7 per cent pace of contraction for the year as a whole, far and away the steepest and fastest decline dating back to 1961.

Canada's chief public health officer Dr.Theresa Tamsays officials are looking intowhether it's practical to test people forCOVID-19 when they enter Canada instead of requiring them to quarantine.

WestJetis going to remove unmasked passengers from flights and ban them for a year under a new policy.

The airline says it will go as far as booting passengers off flights who consistently refuse to wear a mask or face covering while on board.

A new international public opinion survey suggestsCanadians believe the COVID-19 crisis hasbrought their country together, while Americans blame the pandemic for worsening their cultural and political divide.

Fully two-thirds of Canadian respondents to thePew Research Centerstudy released Thursday say they believe Canada is more united as a result of thecoronavirus, while 77 per cent of U.S. participants feel precisely the opposite is true south of the border.

Fears of a resurgence in COVID-19 cases in Ontario after bars and other indoor spaces were reopened have not panned out at least so far.

Four weeks ago as of today, Toronto and Peel Region joined the rest of Ontario (with the exception of Windsor-Essex) in Stage 3 of the province's pandemic reopening plan.That means 97 per cent of Ontario's population has been living under looser restrictions for at least four weeks, enough time for trends in new coronavirus infections to emerge.

Despite that, theprovincial average number of daily new cases has increased only slightly since early August, when the trend line hit its lowest point in months.

Self-assessment and supports:

Alberta Health Services has an online self-assessment tool that you can use to determine if you have symptoms of COVID-19, but testing is open to anyone, even without symptoms.

The province says Albertans who have returned to Canada from other countries must self-isolate. Unless your situation is critical and requires a call to 911, Albertans are advised to call Health Link at 811 before visiting a physician, hospital or other health-care facility.

If you have symptoms, even mild, you are to self-isolate for at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms, until the symptoms have disappeared.

You can find Alberta Health Services' latest coronavirus updates here.

The province also operates a confidential mental health support line at 1-877-303-2642 and addiction help line at 1-866-332-2322, both available 24 hours a day.

Online resources are available for advice on handling stressful situations and ways to talk with children.

There is a 24-hour family violence information line at 310-1818 to get anonymous help in more than 170 languages, and Alberta's One Line for Sexual Violence is available at 1-866-403-8000, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.