Everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Tuesday, Dec. 1

The latest:

• Alberta reported 1,307 new cases on Tuesday, with a test positivity rate of 8.4 per cent. The province has reported more than 1,000 cases each day for nearly two weeks.There are 16,628 active cases.
• There are 97 people in ICU, out of 479 in hospital, both record high numbers. The province has 173 intensive care beds butis working to add another 250.
• 10 more people have died, for a total of 551.
• There are more than6,100active cases in Calgary and more than 7,500active cases in Edmonton.

• There are 1,453 active cases at schools, and 207 schools with outbreaks.
• Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, says cabinet will make decisions later this month on what restrictions will be in place for the winter holidays. She said holidays have proven risky for transmission, so Albertans should prepare for a much different winter season.
• Alberta Health Services says a memo urging Calgary hospital staff to reduce use of oxygen is a proactive response to an anticipated increase in demand as COVID-19 hospitalizations climb. But some doctors say the request is concerningand not something they've seen before.
• Alberta Health is now collecting data on the racial and ethnic background of people diagnosed with COVID-19 but says the data is not yet ready for public release because it's not complete.
• For many weeksnow, Calgary-Upper NE has had the highest total number of active COVID-19 cases of the 132 "localgeographic areas"(or LGAs). The area surpassed 1,000 last week,a number not seen anywhere else in the province at any time during the pandemic. As of Sunday, there were 1,194cases. That'sdouble the numbers seenearlier in the month.
• There are1,405 active cases among students at schools, and 376 schools with active alerts or outbreaks. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, said those numbers are expected to drop now that Grade 7-12 students have moved to online learning.
• There are 41 cases linked to an outbreak at the Calgary Remand Centre. There are reports of inmates being triple-bunked at the centre, according to concerned defence lawyers.
• Calgary officials said Monday that the city wouldstart being more aggressiveto enforce COVID-related health orders meant to fight the ongoing pandemic, after hundreds of people marched in anti-mask protests on the weekend and shoppers packed at least one mall for Black Friday sales.
• Peace officers or police can fine peoplewho break restrictions $1,000 per ticketed offence and up to $100,000 through the courts. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney declared a state of public health emergency on Nov. 24, along with a slate ofnew restrictionsthat will remain in place for at least three weeks.A full list of the new restrictions is available on the province's website.
• Hinshaw said Monday it is Albertans' democratic right to protest, but that guidelines are available as to how to do so safely.
• The Town of Banff is opening isolation spacesTuesdayamong other measures meant to help the mountain towncopewith the second highest number of COVID-19 cases per capita in Alberta.The emergency housing is available to anyone who lives in shared accommodation and has tested positive or is a close contact of someone who has tested positive.
• One unit at South Health Campus in Calgary is on outbreak, after a patient in the orthopedics unit tested positive.

Click on the map below to zoom in or out on specific local geographic areas in Alberta and find out more about COVID-19 there:

What you need to know today in Alberta

On Tuesday, the province reported 1,307 new cases, with a provincial positivity rate of 8.4 per cent. Alberta has reported more than 1,000 cases a day for nearly two weeks, and ICU and hospital numbers continue to hit record highs.

Alberta's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, told Albertans that cabinet will make a decision about restrictions for the winter holidays later this month, but that people should prepare for a very different holiday season.

"The actions we take now and over the coming weeks will determine how the virus is spreading when the holidays arrive," she said.

Here isthe regional breakdown of active cases reported onTuesday:

• Calgary zone: 6,162, up from 6,141 reported on Monday.
• Edmonton zone: 7,552, up from 7,388.
• North zone: 895, up from 869.
• South zone: 672, down from 693.
• Central zone: 1,249, up from 1,238.
• Unknown: 98, down from 125.
  
• 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

Alberta Health Services said plans are in the works to more than double the number of ICU spaces.

Alberta added 20 additional intensive-care beds in Edmonton over the past week and 10 more in Calgary.

Hospitals across the province are working to dedicate 2,200 beds for COVID patients, as they did last spring, Premier Jason Kenney said in the legislature Monday. Dr. David Zygun, medical director for theEdmonton zone,said there are plans to increase the province's ICU bed capacity for adults from 173 to 425.

"Let us hope it is not necessary," Kenney said. "And ultimately, that's up to Albertans to respond positively to both the restrictions and guidelines articulated by the government last week."

COVID's presence in Alberta ICUs has more than tripled during the last month. On Oct. 30,24people were critically ill with an infection.Alberta hit a new record of97 COVIDpatients in ICUs on Tuesday.

Currently, 20Alberta hospitals are now battling COVID-19 outbreaks.

According to information published by AHS, there are more than 190COVIDcases connected to active hospital outbreaks right now, and atleast 20 deaths are linked to the outbreaks.

Since last Thursday, outbreaks have been declared at health centres in Drumheller, Oyen and Devon, along with Chinook Regional hospital in Lethbridge.

In Calgary, outbreaks at three adult hospitals continue to grow. There are now 29cases on fourunits at the Rockyview General. An outbreak has been declared on another unit at the Peter Lougheed hospital, bringing the total there to 18 cases on fourunits. There have been three deaths linked to that one. The latest Foothills hospital outbreaks are affecting two units. There are now 10cases there and one person has died.

Alberta Health is now collecting data on the racial and ethnic background of people diagnosed with COVID-19 but says the data is not yet ready for public release because it's not complete.

A snippet of the data was put out by the premier's issues manager Monday, in defence of the premier's comments about high caseloads in the South Asian community.

"Albertans of South & East Asian descent account for just under 20 per centof COVID-19 cases, but represent only 11 per centof the population,"Matt Wolf postedon Twitter.

The tweet was one of several Wolf posted in response to what he described as misplaced outrage from some of Premier Jason Kenney's critics over Kenney'srecent comments about high caseloads in northeast Calgary, where many South Asian immigrant families live, among others.

"Some are arguing that the premier is 'blaming' or 'stigmatizing' Albertans by trying to raise awareness amongst cultural communities about how to slow the spread," Wolf tweeted. "No, the premier is not 'blaming' any groups of Albertans. COVID-19 affects all elements of our society. But data does show that some cultural communities are disproportionately affected."

The comments come as Calgary-Upper NE, one of132 "localgeographic areas"that the provinceuses inreporting COVID-19cases, has struggled for many weeks with the most cases of any LGA in the province.

The number of active COVID-19 cases theresurpassed 1,000 last week,a number not seen anywhere else in the province at any time during the pandemic. As of Sunday, there were 1,194cases. That'sdouble the numbers seenearlier in the month.

People who live and work in the northeast say there are many reasons that make their communities easy pickings for a virus that thrives on density and easy opportunities for transmission. Those opportunities vary from residents working public-facing, low-income jobswith no opportunity to work from home,to a culture of large, multi-generational households in densely populated neighbourhoods

Many said they thought the types ofjobs worked by those living in the northeast could represent the number one factor behind the high COVID-19 numbers.

Hundreds marched through downtown Calgary on Saturday to protest against mandated masks and other public health measures intended toprevent the spread of COVID-19, the same day record highs innew cases and hospitalizations werereported in the province.

Some signs at Saturday's protest expressed misinformation, saying vaccines can alter DNA or that masks cause bacterial or fungal infections. Others expressed economic concerns, or anger at the federal or provincial government. Members of at least two far-right or white supremacist groups were also seen in attendance.

No tickets were handed out at Saturday's protest, but police say they are considering a plan for strategic enforcement going forward.

Also despitethe new provincial restrictions, large crowds of shoppersdescended for Black Friday sales at Chinook Centre in Calgary and police say a couple of instances quickly got out of control.

Multiple fights broke outand officers escorted a "whole bunch" of unruly patrons out of the facility. No charges were laid.

Cadillac Fairview, the mall's owner, said in a memo to employees that the mall itself won't be managing capacity restrictions, but that task will fall to each store. The mall also notified retailers that there were confirmed COVIDcases at Nordstrom, Pandora, Hudson's Bay, Nespresso andMr. Pretzel, as well as one Cadillac Fairview employee.

Forest Lawn Library in Calgary is closing temporarily after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. The employee was at work on Saturday and had contact with the public.

Kenney has repeatedly saidsocial gatherings are the largest source of transmission in the province, adding that, for example,the risk of transmission in restaurants is lower than at home. However, he did not share what percentage of transmissions are linked to social gatherings. According the Alberta Health, 85 per cent of cases have an unknown source of transmission.

What you need to know today in Canada:

As of 7:45 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Canada's COVID-19 case count stood at 378,139, with66,037of those considered active cases.A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC's reporting stood at 12,130.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sought to reassure the country on Tuesday that his government will be ready to deploy shots soon after they receive the necessary Health Canada approvals. He said the independent scientists reviewing the clinical trial data submitted by the drugmakers behind four promising vaccine candidates are working hard to ensure the safety of these products before Ottawa starts shipments.

The Liberal government ispreparing to spend up to $100 billion to kick start the post-pandemic economy as it stares down a record-high deficit projection of more than $381 billion for this fiscal year.

In a long-awaitedeconomic statement,tabled Monday, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government's immediate priority is to do "whatever it takes" to help Canadians and businesses stay safe and solvent.

The short-term stimulus package is valued at $70 billion to $100 billion over roughly three years. The government says the stimulus spending intended to build a greener, more inclusive, more innovative and competitive economy will launch after a vaccine is distributed and life begins to return to normal.

A majority of Canadians could be inoculated against COVID-19by September 2021"if all goes according to plan," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday. Trudeau said it was important the vaccine reaches all Canadians "no matter where they live."

SaskatchewanPremier Scott Moe said Monday it's too early to say whether COVID-19 restrictions will be loosened in time to allow families to gather for the holidays. Moe said residents can expect to see high COVID-19 case numbers for the next few weeks, as officials wait to see if the latest public health measures have been effective.

The province reported325 new infections onMonday and said there are 123 people in hospital, 23 of whom are receiving intensive care.

InManitoba, health officials reported343 new cases of COVID-19on Monday and 11 additional deaths. The province, which has been dealing with a surgein cases, said 342 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, with 43 in intensive care units.

Ontarioreported1,746 new cases of COVID-19on Monday and said hospitalizations had climbed to 618 the highest hospitalization figures reported in the province's second wave.

Quebecreported1,333 new COVID-19 infectionsand 23 more deaths linked to the novel coronavirus on Monday.

The province's Health Department saidthere are 693 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, 28 more than the previous day. Ninety-four people werein intensive care, an increase of two.

In Atlantic Canada,Nova Scotiareported16 new cases of COVID-19on Monday,New Brunswickreportedsix new casesandNewfoundland and Labradorreportedone new case. There wereno new cases reportedinPrince Edward Island.

Across the North, there werefour new cases of COVID-19reported inNunavuton Monday, whileone new casewas reported inYukon.A mask mandate for indoorpublic spacesgoes into effect in Yukon on Tuesday.

There were no new cases reported in theNorthwest Territories, which hasseen 15 cases to date.

InBritish Columbia, the province announced thehighest number of COVID-19deaths for a three-day periodas it recorded 46 fatalities over the weekend.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry addressed those who have lost loved ones in the pandemic, saying "we all feel your loss and mourn with you."

"These people have faces, have names, have stories. This tragedy is all of our tragedy," Henry said. "If you are thinking it may be OK to bend the rules, please remember this virus takes lives."

As of Monday, a statement from Henry and Dix said there were316 people with COVID-19 in hospital,including 75 in intensive care.

The head of a U.S. biotechnology company that is developing one of the most promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates says Canada is not far behind other countries when it comes to receiving doses of its vaccine, despite criticism of the government's procurement plan from the Conservative opposition.

"Canada is not atthe back of the line," Noubar Afeyan, co-founder and chairman of Moderna, told CBC's Chief Political CorrespondentRosemary Barton on Sunday.

Moderna Inc. said it would ask U.S. and European regulators Monday to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine as new study results confirm the shots offer strong protection ramping up the race to begin limited vaccinations as the coronavirus rampage worsens.

Self-assessment and supports:

With winter cold and influenza season approaching, Alberta Health Services will prioritize Albertans for testing who have symptoms, and those groups which are at higher risk of getting or spreading the virus.

General asymptomatictesting is currently unavailable for people with no known exposure to COVID-19.

Those who test positive will be asked to use the online COVID-19 contact tracing tool, so that their close contacts can be notified by text message.

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.