Everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Monday, June 7

The latest COVID-19 numbers:

• As of Monday's provincial update, there were 351 people in hospital in Alberta — a decrease of nine from the previous day. Of those, 94 were in intensive care units. Sunday represented the first time since April 16 that fewer than 100 COVID-19 patients have been in intensive care unit beds in Alberta. 
• Alberta reported 127 new COVID-19 cases on Monday and two more deaths.
• There are 4,707 active cases.
• The rate of active cases was 110 per 100,000 people in Alberta.
• Provincial labs completed 4,027 tests over the last 24 hours. The positivity rate was 3.2 per cent. 
• There have now been 2,248 COVID deaths. 
• 222,364 Albertans are considered to have recovered from COVID-19.
• The latest R-value reported for the province was 0.74, meaning the virus is spreading to less than one person for each confirmed case.
• Alberta is once again screening 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. 

The latest on vaccines:

• Alberta is seeing a diminishing demand for first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine — and that could translate into a longer wait for the province to fully reopen, Premier Jason Kenney said Monday.
• "We're getting to that critical point right now where every additional person who decides to get their first dose is going to be able to accelerate the full openness of Alberta," Kenney said Monday. "If you've been holding back for one reason or another, now is the time to get the jab." 
• Alberta's reopening plan is tied directly to vaccination and hospital rates. Stage 2, which will launch Thursday, required 60 per cent of eligible Albertans aged 12 and older to be vaccinated. When the 70-per-cent threshold is reached and hospitalizations are remaining below 500, a two-week countdown to Stage 3 of the plan will be triggered 
• Reaching that threshold requires 115,000 more people to get their first dose, Kenney said. Currently, there are about 100,000 bookings in place over the next seven days, he added.

WATCH | Kenney speaks about the vaccination program:

Kenney confirms Stage 2 reopening on June 10

4 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.

• Stage 3 would see most of Alberta's public health restrictions lifted. As of Monday, 66.7 per cent of Alberta's population of those eligible, ages 12 and up, have now received at least one dose of vaccine and 545,853 Albertans are fully immunized (two doses).
• Alberta has now administered more than three million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, including Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-Oxford.
• Under Alberta's newly expanded vaccination rollout, anyone who got their first dose in March can now get their second shot. Anyone who received a dose in April can start booking June 14, and those vaccinated in May can start booking June 28.
• 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.
• Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, said the vaccines have proven even more effective than expected.
• The province says 96 per cent of cases since Jan. 1, 2021 were contracted by people who were unvaccinated or who were diagnosed within two weeks from having a first dose of vaccine.
• Just 0.2 per cent of Albertans who have received their first dose of vaccine have been diagnosed with COVID-19 two weeks or more after receiving the shot. Over that same period, 93 per cent of the people who needed hospital care were either not vaccinated or were diagnosed with infection within two weeks of receiving their first dose. 
• AHS is 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. 

The latest on restrictions and reopenings:

• Stage 1 of the reopening plan began on June 1. Albertans can now book appointments at salons or other personal wellness services. Outdoor public gatherings can consist of 10 people, and restaurants are open for 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 includes: 
  • Outdoor social gatherings of up to 10 people, a ban on indoor social gatherings, and limited retail capacity. A full list of current restrictions is available on the province's website.
• 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.
• A church that has repeatedly defied the province's public health restrictions has been closed by Alberta Health Services, the health authority said in a release issued Saturday. AHS said it had physically closed Fairview Baptist Church and would prevent access to the building until the church's pastor, Tim Stephens, could "demonstrate the ability to comply with these restrictions." 

(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.)

See which regions are being hit hardest:

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

• Calgary zone: 1,911.
• Edmonton zone: 1,273.
• Central zone: 599.
• South zone: 243.
• North zone: 679.
• 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: