Second dose uptake continues to dominate first doses in Alberta, 100 new cases reported

EDMONTON -

Alberta reported 100 cases of COVID-19 Sunday as the number of people receiving second doses outpaced the amount of first doses administered.

In a limited update released on the province’s COVID-19 information website, approximately 4,878 tests were completed to give Alberta a positivity rate of 1.8 per cent.

Of the 100 cases reported on Sunday, 11 were previously suspected cases from previous days that had since been confirmed as positive COVID-19 test results.

The seven-day average of new cases is at 126. This is the eleventh day in a row that Alberta has reported fewer than 200 daily cases. The last time Alberta reported only 100 new cases was in September.

There are 214 people in hospital, a decline of seven patients since Saturday. There are 53 people in ICUs across the province being treated for COVID-19 – an increase of four patients since Saturday.

One more death from COVID-19 was reported Sunday, raising the provincial total to 2,290.

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Second dose uptake continues to outpace first doses as more than 45,200 second doses were administered as of Saturday and only 6,675 first doses.

Approximately 70.6 per cent of those aged 12 and over in Alberta have received their first dose while 28.6 per cent of the population eligible for vaccination is fully immunized.

Since expanding second dose availability on Friday, over 250,000 Albertans have booked their final shot.

There are now 2,127 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. The Calgary zone leads the province for active cases with 1,005 – representing 47 per cent of Alberta’s total amount of active infections.

The North zone has 420 active cases while the Edmonton zone has 404. The Central and South zones have 218 and 78 cases, respectively. Two active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta have an unknown zone of origin.

The reproduction number or R value for Alberta from June 7 to June 13 was 0.76 meaning the rate of transmission decreased during that period. The Edmonton zone has an R value of 0.65 while the Calgary zone has 0.79. The remainder of Alberta has an R value of 0.80.

The Calgary zone leads the province in hospitalizations and patients in ICU with COVID-19 with 107 people in hospital and 26 in intensive care. The Edmonton zone has 51 people in hospital and 14 in ICU while the North zone has 24 and 5. The Central zone has 21 people in hospital and seven in ICU while the South zone has 11 and one.

One hundred new variant of concern cases were identified in Alberta on Sunday, including 60 of the Alpha or B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the United Kingdom and 32 of Delta or variant first identified in India.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health, is expected to deliver an in-person update about the COVID-19 situation in Alberta sometime this week.