EDMONTON -- The number of Alberta patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 dipped below 250 for the first time in months on Saturday as the province reported 341 new cases.
The last time hospitalizations were this low was on Nov. 12. There are 247 Albertans in hospital due to COVID-19 including 42 in intensive care units.
One death was reported on Saturday: a woman in her 80s linked to the outbreak at Aspen House Care Residence in Morinville. Her death brings the province's death toll to 1,913.
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There have now been 135,537 total infections in the province since the start of the pandemic. The number of active cases have slowly been trending upwards since mid-February and currently sit at 4,649.
The province recorded a 4.11 per cent test positivity rate based on 8,142 tests.
Alberta also reported 36 new variant cases of COVID-19, all of them the B.1.1.7 "U.K. variant," bringing the province's total number of variant cases to 599.
Of today's variant cases, 32 of them were in the Edmonton health zone, which covers an area much larger than the city itself.
Variant cases require a second screening of a positive test meaning the daily reported number is a mix of current and historical cases.
The province is overhauling its data dashboard and will be providing only a limit update on Sunday.
Alberta's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, will return for an in-person update on Monday.
