EDMONTON -- A day after setting a high for total active cases, Alberta continued to shatter the record with 21,828 infections of COVID-19 Friday after reporting another 2,007 cases.

There are now 659 people in hospital, including a pandemic high of 152 ICU admissions.

Alberta set an ICU admission record Friday, after 151 admissions on Thursday that tied the pandemic high mark set in December.

While variant cases continue to mount they represent a shrinking proportion of active cases, as another 989 variant of concern cases were reported.

Variants now represent 61.6 per cent of active cases, a value that's fallen since peaking at 64 per cent near the start of the week.Five of the 10 highest daily increases in the number of ICU admission have also occurred this month.

Seven new deaths were reported Friday in a limited Twitter update given by Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

Approximately 19,000 tests were completed in the province, Hinshaw said, leading to the positivity rate increasing to 10.6 per cent.

ST. ALBERT BECOMES HOT SPOT REGION

St. Albert has now reached the threshold for additional targeted restrictions with a case rate of 375 per 100,000 residents and 261 active cases.

While St. Albert was the only city to be added to the hot spot list, Hinshaw said numbers of cases continue to rise across the province.

“It is vital that no matter where we live, we each do our part to follow all public health measures and reduce in-person interactions,” she said over Twitter. "Together we can bend the curve one more time.”

Alberta has now administered 1,562,713 doses of COVID-19 vaccine translating to 28 per cent of eligible Albertans receiving at least one dose. Only 6.5 per cent of the eligible population is fully immunized.

Earlier Friday, Alberta opened bookings for the rest of Phase 2C of its rollout plan, which includes health workers not vaccinated in previous rounds.

Bookings also opened fro Phase 2D, which includes police officers, firefighters, Albertans aged 50 to 64, and Indigenous people aged 35 to 49.

Phase 3 of the province's plan is scheduled to run through May and June and expands vaccine eligibility to the general public.

On Thursday, Alberta introduced a number of targeted restrictions aimed at hot spots with a case rate of 350 per 100,000 residents and a minimum of 250 active cases.

In these regions, junior and high schools will shift to online learning starting Monday, and indoor fitness and team sports will be suspended.

The restrictions will remain in place for two weeks, even if a city drops below the 350-case rate threshold during that period. They will return to the province-wide restrictions after the two weeks.

The province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, will return for an in-person update next week.