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Hospitalizations dip below 1,000 as COVID infections continue steady decline

Last Updated Oct 19, 2021 at 1:55 pm MDT

Since the end of last week, COVID cases have seen a steady decline in Alberta, and it’s not due to fewer people getting tested.

Over the weekend, the province reported a total of 2,181 new cases of COVID-19. The new case numbers come after more than 30,000 tests were completed.

Alberta’s positivity rate over the last three days was around 7.2 per cent.

The breakdown of new cases from the weekend is as follows:

  • 783 new cases on Friday;
  • 791 new cases on Saturday;
  • 607 new cases on Sunday.

The province’s R-value, which represents the transmission rate of COVID-19 in Alberta, now sits at 0.85, with every region below 1.

As for hospitalization numbers, they also continue to steadily decline, with the province dipping below 1,000 people in hospital for the first time since Sept. 21.

Of the 981 people in hospital, 225 are in the ICU.

As for the most severe outcomes of COVID-19, the province is reporting 30 more people died from the virus over the weekend.

While still a severely high number, it’s a slight improvement from last week when Alberta reported 30 or more deaths for three days straight.

As for vaccinations in Alberta, more than 6.35 million doses have been administered in the province.

Of those 12 and older, 86 per cent have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 77.4 per cent are fully immunized.