COVID-19 in Alberta: New cases surge with 387 new infections reported over the weekend

Edmonton -

Alberta recorded 387 new cases over the last three days as case counts and test positivity continue to rise. 

The province's Monday report covered data from Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Alberta has exceeded 60 new daily cases the last seven straight days after doing so just once during the rest of July. 

Over that time, the seven-day rolling average of test positivity rose to 1.80 per cent, about where it was during the third week of June. 

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Both daily new cases and test positivity are considered leading indicators that hint at how the province's COVID-19 status will change over the coming weeks. 

Active cases rose to 1,083 in Monday's report, the highest value since June 29. 

Meanwhile, hospitalizations and deaths remain stable or declining, but both are considered to be lagging indicators that follow from rising case counts and test positivity. 

There are 83 COVID-19 patients in hospital including 21 in intensive care units. No new deaths were reported over the past three days, leaving the province's death toll at 2,322.

Nearly a month after removing virtually all public health restrictions, COVID-19 case counts in Alberta started to rise after declining for weeks. 

On Friday, the province reported 173 new cases after removing dozens of cases from December that were entered more than once in error. The increase was the largest since June 11.

The province is averaging about one COVID-19 death per day over the past week with 19 Albertans having died due to the coronavirus since July 1. 

Data from the previous waves indicates hospitalizations begin to rise about two weeks after cases increase. Deaths follow the pattern about two weeks after hospitalizations rise.

The number of Albertans vaccinated against COVID-19 continues to grow though the pace has slowed significantly over the past weeks. 

As of Monday, more than 75 per cent of eligible Albertans have had a first shot and 63.4 per cent have had a second dose.  

Areas located in the Edmonton and Calgary health zones continue to have the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the province while 14 out of the 20 areas with the lowest vaccination rates are found in the north health zone. 

Alberta Health will next provide an update COVID-19 numbers on Tuesday afternoon.