Everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Thursday, June 3

The latest on vaccines:

• A spokesperson for Alberta Health said 120,000 bookings for second doses were made on Tuesday, following Premier Jason Kenney's announcement that Albertans who got their first dose in March were eligible to do so.
• Under the newly expanded vaccination rollout, anyone vaccinated in April can start booking June 14th, and those vaccinated in May can start booking June 28th.
• You do not need to wait to be contacted by AHS or a pharmacy to book your second dose once you become eligible. Bookings for first doses remain the top priority, the province said.
• Alberta is shortening the timeline between doses of AstraZeneca to a minimum of eight weeks.
• The province says it will follow the advice of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization and allow those who received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for their first dose to get either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna for the second, or they can get another AstraZeneca vaccine shot.
• 2,841,779 vaccine doses have been administered in Alberta, including Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-Oxford, as of Monday.
• 64 per cent of Alberta's population of those ages 12 and up have now received at least one dose of vaccine.
• 406,712 Albertans are fully immunized (two doses) — 10.7 per cent of those ages 12 and up.
• AHS will operate a drop-in vaccination clinic in northeast Calgary on June 5 and 6 at the Village Square Leisure Centre from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• AHS is also opening a drive-thru immunization clinic in Calgary on June 7. The clinic, located at 911 32 Ave. N.E., will be by appointment only. It will operate 8:20 a.m. to 9: 20 p.m. seven days a week, with capacity for up to 1,000 appointments each day. A maximum of four people in each vehicle can be immunized, but all will require booked appointments. 
• Dr. Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health, will give her next update at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. CBC will have live coverage on its website, Radio 1 and on Facebook. 

WATCH | Kenney speaks about the vaccination program:

Kenney confirms Stage 2 reopening on June 10

3 years ago

Duration 2:09

Premier Jason Kenney confirmed after meeting the threshold for Stage 2 of the province's reopening plan, in-person dining, gyms and larger outdoor gatherings will be allowed starting June 10.

The latest on restrictions and reopenings:

• Stage 1 of the reopening plan began on June 1. Albertans can now book appointments at barber shops, hair salons and other personal wellness services. Outdoor public gatherings can double to 10 people from five, and restaurants can resume patio service.
• Retail shops can now allow 15 per cent of their fire code occupancy, or five customers, whichever is greater.
• Indoor social gatherings remain banned.
• The three-stage "open for summer" plan is tied directly to vaccination rates and hospitalization numbers, Kenney said.
• For the first stage, the threshold is 50 per cent of eligible people (aged 12 and up) having had at least one dose of vaccine and hospitalizations being below 800 and declining, both of which were met by May 18.
• The premier tweeted on May 28 that the province is on track to move to Stage 2 on June 10, as long as hospitalizations are below 500.
• The province could be fully open by the beginning of July or earlier, Kenney said.
• Stage 1 will proceed as follows: 
  • (Starting May 28:) The capacity limit for worship services increases to 15 per cent of fire code occupancy. Distancing and masking requirements remain in effect.
  • Funeral ceremonies may have up to 20 people, not including facility staff, funeral clergy or organizers not considered guests. Receptions remain prohibited.
  • Wedding ceremonies may have up to 10 people, including the officiant, bride/groom, witnesses and any photographers/videographers. Receptions remain prohibited.
  • Personal and wellness services can reopen, by appointment only.
  • Retail can increase to 15 per cent of fire code occupancy (must maintain ability to distance).
  • Outdoor physical, performance and recreational activities are permitted with up to 10 distanced people, for all ages.
  • Outdoor patio dining can resume with a maximum of four people per table. Everyone at the table must be members of the same household or for a person living alone, dining parties are limited to two close contacts. Physical distancing and other restrictions still apply.
  • Indoor social gatherings are still not permitted.
  • Outdoor social gatherings, with distancing, increase to up to 10 people.
• Stage 2: Two weeks after 60 per cent of Albertans age 12-plus have received at least one dose of vaccine and COVID-19 hospitalizations are below 500 and declining. 
  • Outdoor social gatherings increase to 20 people, with distancing. Wedding ceremonies may occur with up to 20 attendees.
  • Receptions are permitted outdoors only.
  • Funeral ceremonies remain unchanged with up to 20 people permitted, not including facility staff, funeral clergy or organizers not considered guests. Receptions are permitted outdoors only.
  • Restaurants may seat tables with up to six people, indoors or outdoors. Dining parties are no longer restricted to households only. Physical distancing and other restrictions still apply.
  • Retail capacity increases to one-third of fire code occupancy (must maintain ability to distance).
  • Capacity for places of worship increases to one-third of fire code occupancy.
  • Gyms and other indoor fitness open for solo and drop-in activities with three-metre distancing between participants and fitness classes may resume with three-metre distancing.
  • Indoor settings may open with up to one-third of fire code occupancy, including indoor recreation centres. This includes arenas, cinemas, theatres, museums, art galleries and libraries.
  • Indoor and outdoor youth and adult sports resume with no restrictions.
  • Youth activities, such as day camps and play centres, may resume, with restrictions.
  • Personal and wellness services can resume walk-in services.
  • Post-secondary institutions can resume in-person learning.
  • The work-from-home order is lifted but still recommended.
  • Outdoor fixed seating facilities (e.g., grandstands) can open with one-third seated capacity.
  • Public outdoor gatherings increase to 150 people (e.g. concerts/festivals), with restrictions. Distancing and masking requirements remain in effect.
• Stage 3: Two weeks after 70 per cent of Albertans age 12-plus have received at least one dose of vaccine.
  • All restrictions are lifted, including the ban on indoor social gatherings.
  • Isolation requirements for confirmed cases of COVID-19 and some protective measures in continuing care settings remain.
• Additional details on all restrictions and measures in place will be released prior to each step. Albertans can track the province's immunization progress on alberta.ca, the province said.
• The Ponoka Stampede will not be happening as planned in early July though organizers are hopeful it may happen this summer. It was cancelled last summer because of the pandemic.
• Alberta is offering to help Manitoba with its critically ill COVID-19 patients as the third wave of the pandemic in that province continues to rage. Up to 10 Manitoba patients requiring intensive care beds will be cared for in hospitals either in Edmonton or Calgary, Alberta Health Services (AHS) said Wednesday in a news release.

(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 COVID-19 numbers:

• Alberta reported 296 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and five more deaths.
• There were 5,831 active cases.
• The rate of active cases was 143 per 100,000 people in Alberta.
• The daily test positivity rate was 4.6 per cent.
• There were 411 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 120 in intensive care. 
• There have now been 2,236 COVID deaths. 
• 220,357 Albertans are considered to have recovered from COVID-19.
• The latest R-value reported for the province was 0.72, meaning the virus is spreading to less than one person for each confirmed case.
• Alberta will once again screen all positive cases of COVID-19 for variants of concern. 
• 417 schools, or 17 per cent of schools in the province, are on alert or have outbreaks with 3,409 total cases. In-school transmission is believed to have occurred in 870 schools since Jan. 11. 

See which regions are being hit hardest:

Here is the detailed regional breakdown of active cases as reported by the province on Thursday.

• Calgary zone: 2,379.
• Edmonton zone: 1,522.
• Central zone: 745.
• South zone: 367.
• North zone: 816.
• Unknown: 2.

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

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: