23 deaths, 639 new COVID-19 cases in Alberta

This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19. (NIAID-RML via AP)

EDMONTON (660 NEWS) — The province announced 23 new COVID-19 deaths and 639 new infections on Monday.

Over 810 people are in the hospital with the virus with 130 people in the ICU.

There’s a positivity rate of 6.1 per cent, with 9,800 tests having been done in the last 24 hours.

“Albertans can be proud of the way we have brought our numbers down over the last month, especially when we look at the increasing trends happening in some other jurisdictions,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer, said during Monday’s COVID-19 update.

“We have more to do, but we are bending the curve and we must keep up this momentum in the days ahead.”

Active cases have decreased to 13,917 with more than 96,000 recoveries.

Alberta’s R-value, also known as the reproduction number, from Jan. 4 to 10, is currently 0.90.

The Calgary zone has an R-value of 0.96 while the Edmonton zone has a value of 0.80.

The rest of Alberta sits at 0.97.

This number is used to describe the average number of people that someone with COVID-19 will infect.