Everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Friday, Jan. 15

The latest:

• On Friday, Alberta identified another 785new cases of COVID-19 down from 967 new casesthe day before.
• Alberta will ease some public health restrictions starting on Monday, allowing hair salons, barbershops and other personal services businesses to reopen by appointment only.
• Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, saidThursday that the province made the decision for the limited reopenings after examining everything that was closed afterPremier Jason Kenney's UCP government imposed tighter restrictionsin mid-December in a bid to curb skyrocketingactive case, hospitalization and ICU counts.
• As of Monday, up to 10 people will be also allowed to gather outdoors, and up to 20 people will be allowed to attend a funeral. Indoor gatheringsremain prohibited and funeral receptionsare still not allowed.

• Since reaching a peak on Dec. 7 of 1,767 new cases per day, the seven-day average of daily new cases has been steadily declining in Alberta. As of Jan. 13, the seven-day average was 875, which is roughly the level it was at in mid-November when the numbers were exploding.
• The province had 12,189active cases as of Friday, down from12,434on Thursday.
• The total of active cases in Alberta has been dropping slowly but steadily since it peaked at 21,138 on Dec. 13, a day after tougher provincial restrictions kicked in that made working from home mandatory for those who could,banned in-person service at restaurants, pubs and bars,and entirely closed entertainment and recreation facilities from movie theatres to gyms, personal and wellness services like spas and hair salons. A few days earlier, the province had also instituted a mandatory provincewide mask requirement, andbanned all outdoor and indoor social gatherings with people beyond one's immediate household.

• There were 796people in hospital Friday, including 124in intensive care. Another 13people have died, for a total of 1,402 deaths.
• Twelveschools, about 0.4 per cent, are on alert or haveoutbreaks, with 15 cases in total.Outbreaks have beendeclared in two ofthem, accounting for five cases. In-schooltransmission has likely occurred in threeschools, and all three only led to one new case.
• The continuing decline in numbersmeans fears of a post-holiday COVID-19 surge appear not to have materialized in Alberta, and experts say current trends are encouraging, but the province still has some way to go before major public-health measures can be safely lifted.
• Before the holidays, Kenneysaidhe was concerned that Albertans might misunderstand or disregard the stricter rules imposed in December restricting family gatherings.But it appears Albertans generally followed the rules and limited the spread of the virus. A post-holiday spike in cases would be expected to have shown up in the data by now, but so far there has been no major increase.

• Lesser Slave Lake MLA Pat Rehnwas ousted from the UCP caucus Thursday and barred from running again for the partyafter beingchastised for travelling to Mexico over the holidays and publicly criticizedfor alleged absenteeism in his constituency, has been ousted from theUCP caucus. Rehnwill be barred from running for the UCPever again,Kenney announced on FacebookThursday morning.
• Two otherUCP MLAs confirmed to CBC News on Wednesday that they left Albertaduring December despite theirown government's warnings against non-essential travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. That brings the total to nine (including Rehn) from the UCP caucus and none for the NDP caucus. The information comesafter CBC News asked the UCP and NDP caucuses where each member was and published a full list including the names of those who didn't say.
• The Alberta Hospitality Association is demanding clear guidelines from the province regarding when and how businesses that are closed or restricted due to the pandemic can expect to be allowed to resume normal operations.
• There'ssome frictionamong the province's hockey community and anger at the province over COVID-19 rules that let students play hockey at private schools with indoor rinks while recreational and competitive sports have been shut down since the end of last year for most Albertans.
• B.C. Premier John HorgansaidThursday his government is gettinglegal advice to determine whether an inter-provincial travel ban would befeasible and, presumably, whether it is constitutional to further insulate the province as COVID-19 case numbers in other parts of Canada hit "dangerous" levels.
• As of Friday, there are now 65 active COVID-19 cases on the Blood Tribe reserve, an increase from 24 active cases reported on Jan. 9.
• On theStoney NakodaFirst Nation,there were 153 active cases of COVID-19 reported as of Thursday, up from 86 cases reported Jan. 10, when Stoney Nakodaannounced a state of local emergency.

More details on what you need to know in Alberta:

Health Minister Tyler Shandrosaid Thursday that Alberta will ease some public health restrictions starting on Monday, allowing personal and wellness services businesses to reopen by appointment only.

The changes will impact hair salons, barber shops, esthetics, manicure and pedicure businesses, reflexology, piercing and tattoo shops, and other personal and wellness services throughout the province.

Appointments should be limited to one-on-one services and businesses, Shandrosaid, and clients are expected to keep following the public health guidelines.

Starting Monday, up to 10 people will also be allowed to gather outdoors, and up to 20 people will be allowed to attend a funeral, with the caveat that allwho attend wear masks and maintaintwo metres of physical distancing.

Dont bend the rules to fit you

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Duration 0:51

Alberta plans to ease some COVID-19 restrictions but Health Minister Tyler Shandro has words for those who might take advantage of the changes.

Funeral receptions are still not allowed, and indoor gatherings remain prohibited.

"Alberta's case numbers and hospitalizations remain high and they pose a threat to our health-care system capacity and they continue to," Shandro said.

"Today we can't entirely ease up on this goal, but we can make small adjustments to provide Albertans with some limited activities."

The government also had to take into consideration the fact that two variants of the COVID-19 virus one first identified in the United Kingdom and anotherfirst identified in South Africa have now appeared in the province.

Alberta identified another 785new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the province to 12,189active cases.

There are 796people in hospital, including 124in intensive care. Another 13people have died, for a total of 1,402deaths.

The provincewide R-value is0.90,meaning thateach person who contracts COVID-19 will transmit coronavirus to less than one other person, on average.

• To find out more, see:Alberta to ease some COVID-19 restrictions starting Monday, health minister says

Fears of a post-holiday COVID-19 surge appear not to have materialized in Alberta, and experts say current trends are encouraging, but the province still has some way to go before major public-health measures can be safely lifted.

"We look at this big picture and what it's suggesting is that what we're doing in Alberta is working," said Dr. Craig Jenne,an associate professor of microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases at the University of Calgary.

'What we're doing in Alberta is working': COVID numbers trending in the right direction

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Infectious disease expert Craig Jenne says multiple data points in January 2021 suggest Alberta is successfully curbing the spread of COVID-19 but the trends need to continue for some time before restrictions can be safely eased.

He noted that new daily case numbers have been steadily coming down for several weeks now and, while hospitalizations remain relatively high, they appear to have peaked and have started to decline, as well, albeit somewhat slowly.

Hinshawacknowledgedthe province has been doing fewer tests lately, but noted the percentage of tests coming back positive has also been steadily declining, which suggests the viral spread is indeed slowing.

On Tuesday, she saidit wasn't clear why fewer people are being tested as there wascapacity in the system, and reiterated that it's important to be tested and isolate if you have been exposed or are experiencing symptoms.

"We have no backlog in our lab," Hinshaw said earlier this week."So our lab is processing all of the samples in a timely way."

• To find out more, see: With no post-holiday surge, Alberta's COVID-19 numbers appear to be on right track

An Alberta MLA, chastised for travelling over the holidays and publicly criticizedfor alleged absenteeism in his constituency, has been bootedfrom Kenney'sUCP caucus.

Lesser Slave Lake MLA Pat Rehnhas been removed from caucus and will be barred from running for the UCPever again,Kenneyannounced on FacebookThursday morning.

"The most important job of an MLA is to represent his or her constituents," Kenney wrote. "It has become clear that Lesser Slave Lake MLA Pat Rehn has failed to do so. He has made no meaningful effort to work in his constituency, or properly to represent his hard-working constituents."

Rehn will now sit as an Independent MLA.

In a Facebook message posted late Thursday,Rehn thanked Kenney and the party for the opportunity to run and"stand up for a free enterprise Alberta."

He said he looks forward to theadded political freedom of sitting as an Independent and said he plans to be more vocal about his concerns with certain COVID-19 health restrictions.

• For more, see:Alberta MLA mired in travel scandal ousted from caucus for absenteeism

Rehn was among nineUCP MLAsconfirmedto have left Alberta during December despite theirown government's warnings against non-essential travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The information comesafter CBC News asked the UCP and NDP caucuses where each member was and published a full list including the names of those who didn't say.

Two UCP legislators' whereabouts Miranda Rosin, the MLA for Banff-Kananaskis, andDrew Barnes, MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat remainedunconfirmed as of Wednesday morning, despite a dozen requests made by CBC News to the UCP caucus, the constituency offices and directly to the officialsover the span of a week.

After CBC News posted the list Wednesday, a UCP spokesperson confirmedthatRosin went to visit family in Saskatchewan for Christmas. A few hours later,Barnesconfirmedhe spent one night in Saskatchewan for business earlier in December.

The revelation that some United Conservative PartyMLAs and a cabinet minister had eschewed advisories from all levels of government against non-essential travel and hit the beaches didn't sit well with many Albertans including other UCP MLAs who had obeyed a banon mingling outside their households and the many thousands of businesses that were shut down or severely curtailed.

Despite a public outcry that led to the resignations of then Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allardand of Kenney's chief of staff, and the demotion of five otherUnited Conservative PartyMLAs, there was still nopublic accounting of where the remainder spent the holiday breakbytwo weeks after the first vacation was confirmed.

• For more, see:2 more UCP MLAs confirm they travelled out of province in December find out where your MLA was

The Alberta Hospitality Association is demanding clear guidelines from the province regarding when and how businesses that are closed or restricted due to the pandemic canresume normal operations.

In an open letter to the province, the industry group says the roughly 150,000 people who work in the sector have been struggling for too long and the current state of restrictions are unfair.

Association vice-president and Calgary restaurant owner Leslie Echino says hard numbers and clear targets are needed.

"What's it going to take to enable us to reopen? Is it going to be the R-factor? Is it going to be hospitalizations? We need clear ways to understand when we're going to open," she said.

• For more, see:At 'breaking point,' Alberta hospitality industry group asks province for clear path to reopening

The Calgary Hotel Association is asking its members how they'd feel about promoting the Alberta government's ABTraceTogether app in exchange for fewer restrictions on the hospitality industry including potentially making installation of the contact-tracing app mandatory for some guests.

A survey was sent to about 60 member hotels on Monday, said association president Sol Zia, and the association plans to gather feedback until the end of the week.

Zia said no decisions have been made and the industry is in "really, really early discussions" with the provincial government, which raised the idea.

• For more, see:Calgary hotels asked if they'd promote Alberta's contact-tracing app in exchange for eased restrictions

A Calgary emergency room physician is capturing life on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic through her camera lens.

For the past six weeks, Dr. Heather Patterson has visited hospitals in the city to take photos of what unfolds in the hallways and patient rooms and even in the ICU.

"As the pandemic began to affect our Calgary hospitals and community, I realized that I wanted to capture what was actually happening inside our hospitals," Patterson told theCalgary Eyeopeneron Thursday.

"I wanted to tell the authentic story of this team of people who have a common goal, and how we're achieving that."

• To see her moving photos, see:Calgary ER doctor captures life on front lines of pandemic through photography project

Alberta is ramping up its surveillance for two coronavirus variants which have now been reported in the province as a team of scientists at the provincial laboratory developa quicker and easier test to identify cases and determine if and when the strains take root.

Five cases of the variant first identified in the U.K. havebeen confirmed in Alberta, along with one case of the variant first discovered in South Africa.

All of the casesare travel-related, according to Alberta Health, but there is a small amount of transmission in one case where a traveller spread COVID-19 to two household contacts. Health officials say there is no evidence there was further spread beyond that household.

CBC News has launched a vaccine tracker so you can follow the progress as vaccines are rolled out across the country.See how the vaccine rollout is going in your province or territory here.

• For more, see:Rapid screening test will help track coronavirus variants in Alberta

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:

Here isthedetailed regional breakdown of active cases as of Friday:

• Calgary zone: 4,657, down from 4,691 reported on Thursday (39,031 recovered).
• Edmonton zone: 4,355, down from 4,570 (43,552 recovered).
• North zone: 1,624, down from 1,635 (7,243 recovered).
• South zone: 383, up from 362 (5,000 recovered).
• Central zone: 1,155, up from 1,152 (6,841 recovered).
• Unknown: 15, down from 24 (112 recovered).

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 thelatest Alberta COVID-19 stories from yesterday and today:

• Alberta to ease some COVID-19 restrictions starting Monday, health minister says
• Here are the latest COVID-19 statistics for Alberta and what they mean
• With no post-holiday surge, Alberta's COVID-19 numbers appear to be on right track
• 1,500 flights and rising as Canadians seek sunny escapes despite surging COVID-19 crisis
• No more hockey in Alberta hamlet after pandemic forces ice plant to close for the season
• Calgary ER doctor captures life on front lines of pandemic through photography project
• Grocery chain's Alberta box a boost for local food-product companies
• Lethbridge police charge organizer of protest against COVID-19 health measures
• Some Alberta seniors in continuing care feel left out in priority phase of vaccine rollout
• Rapid screening test will help track coronavirus variants in Alberta
• Alberta schools with private rinks, sports facilities can continue training despite restrictions
• For the latest on what's happening in the rest of Canada and around the world on Friday,see here.