Today (Nov. 9) Alberta is reporting 644 new cases of COVID-19 since the previous day, from approximately 13,000 tests completed. 

With the ongoing technical difficulties Alberta Health has been having, exact testing numbers are unavailable still, but will be provided as soon as possible. They have now posted cases numbers by region again. 

There are now 7,965 active cases in the province, with 25,826 total recoveries. Seven more Albertans have died, for a total of 369 since the start of the pandemic.  

Right now, 192 people are hospitalized with the virus, with 39 of these in intensive care. Dr. Hinshaw continues to be concerned about these numbers and says they are looking at what further steps might be taken. 

In Grande Prairie, there are now 104 active cases of the virus, with 247 recoveries. In the County, 30 are active and 88 total people have recovered. 

Peace Region totals: 

Dr. Hinshaw talked again about her concerns with our rising numbers. We had a record high of daily cases on Saturday, as well as high numbers Sunday and today. She says we need to bend the curve back soon, or we could see more surgeries postponed and other impacts on health services. 

“It generally takes one to two weeks to see the impact of new measures like the ones that Alberta announced on Friday. However, the rate of increase and rising hospitalizations are extremely concerning to me. We are assessing measures closely. If needed, we do not need to wait 14 days before recommending additional measures. 

“This is a critical juncture, and we need to get our cases down to below 100 new cases per day in our big cities, with a growth rate, or R value, of less than 1.” 

The R value in Edmonton and Calgary is 1.1, with the rest of Alberta at 1.2. 

Dr. Hinshaw says we will change this by working together. 

Watch the full update here: