What you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Wednesday, August 12

The latest:

• The province reported one more COVID-19 death on Wednesday and 121 new cases of the illness.
• The most recent death was a resident at Edmonton's Good Samaritan Southgate Care Centre, bringing the total at that facility to 29.
• As of Wednesday, 217 people in Alberta have died of COVID-19 and 10,623 have recovered.
• Alberta will switch from its provincial COVID-19 notification app to the national app.
• Some southern Alberta First Nations will adopt different strategies for going back to school than the rest of the province.
• The Alberta government has awarded $4.2 million in contracts to Old Navy and IFR Workwear to make masks for students in the province.
• Alberta Health Services is looking to the private sector to double its testing capacity and handle asymptomatic testing ahead of September.
• Learn about where you need to wear a mask around the province.
• Walmart will require masks in all its Canadian stores starting Wednesday.

What you need to know today in Alberta:

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, said Monday that the varying daily new case numbers should not be a reason for complacency.

"There is some irony in the fact that my cautious optimism last week was followed by three days with new case counts over 100. It is a reminder that COVID continues to be with us and we cannot turn our backs on this virus."

With evidence suggesting that ethnicity is one of the risk factors for COVID-19, some human-rights advocates want the Alberta government to collect race-correlated data on infections.

A massive backlog of cattle in the Alberta beef industry brought on by the pandemic is now easing, as large meat processors have ramped up production to pre-pandemic levels. 

Face masks have been mandatory in all indoor spaces in Edmonton since Aug. 1, but a program brought forward by the City of Edmonton this past weekend provides exemptions to those who are unable to wear a mask due to physical or health conditions. 

Edmontonians can go to any recreation centre in the city and can get an orange card that states, "I cannot wear a mask or face covering" in bold white letters. The card allows them to walk in malls, grocery stores and other indoor spaces mask-free. 

Last week, the Alberta government announced that masks will be mandatory for all school staff and most Alberta students when they return to school in September.

Students from Grades 4 through 12 will be required to wear masks in all public spaces and can choose to wear them while seated in the class. Masks will be optional for younger students.

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said in an emailed statement Saturday that "some have recently questioned the ability" of the provincial government to purchase the needed number of masks in time, adding that the government approached "experienced, established vendors" to ensure the masks would arrive before classes resume.

Alberta has placed two orders for 1.7 million masks, valued at a total of $4.2 million, with Old Navy and IFR Workwear.

CBC News has curated a list of towns and cities in the province, outlining their policies on masks. We'll try to keep it updated regularly.

Here's a regional breakdown of active cases across the province as of Wednesday:

• Calgary zone: 312 cases (11 in hospital, 1 in ICU).
• Edmonton zone: 470 cases (21 in hospital, 7 in ICU).
• Central zone: 92 cases (10 in hospital, none in ICU).
• North zone: 111 cases (3 in hospital, 1 in ICU).
• South zone: 55 cases (5 in hospital, 4 in ICU).
• Unknown: 4 cases.

• 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

What you need to know today in Canada:

As of 2:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Canada had 120,633 confirmed and presumptive coronavirus cases. Provinces and territories listed 107,023 of those as recovered or resolved. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC's reporting stood at 9,042.

A federal ministerial order issued Friday closes a loophole that may have made it easier for some airline passengers to avoid face coverings. Passengers who are unable to wear a face mask due to a medical condition must now present an official doctor's note stating that they are exempt from the rule, or they will be denied boarding. 

Canada's economy added 419,000 jobs in July and the jobless rate dropped to 10.9 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.

However, it reported that this still leaves Canada's economy with 1.3 million fewer jobs than it had in February, before widespread lockdowns to limit the spread of COVID-19 began.

Mark Carney — the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England — has been acting as an informal adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the federal government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

National figures on house prices from the Canadian Real Estate Association are out next Monday, and even while rental properties face a glut, sales and prices for homes in Vancouver and Toronto are both up sharply.

In Toronto, real estate board figures show detached home prices in July rose more than 25 per cent year over year — increases similar to the biggest boom years, from 2010 to the spring of 2017, of what many described then as a growing real estate bubble.

Thirty-five people tested positive for COVID-19 in Manitoba as of Sunday, bringing the total number of active cases in the province to 182 — the highest since the beginning of the pandemic. 

The Ontario government has cleared Windsor-Essex — the last region in Ontario that was still in Stage 2 — to move into Stage 3 of reopening on Wednesday. 

Ontario reported its sixth-straight day of fewer than 100 new cases of COVID-19 last week, with 70 new cases reported Saturday and one new death. 

The province has seen nearly 40,000 cases of the virus and 2,784 deaths. Hospitalizations and ICU admissions also continue to decline in the province.

Self-assessment and supports:

Alberta Health Services has an online self-assessment tool that you can use to determine if you have symptoms of COVID-19, but testing is open to anyone, even without symptoms. 

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.