Alberta reports 35 new COVID-19 deaths as hospitalizations top 1,500

Alberta is reporting 35 new COVID-19-related deaths as hospitalizations related to the illness continue to reach unprecedented levels.

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 grew by 20 from Friday's update to 1,516, according to statistics posted online Monday.

The number of patients in intensive care has decreased in recent days.

There are now 99 people with COVID being treated in ICU, a decrease of six from the province's last update and considerably lower than during the hospitalization peaks of previous waves of COVID-19.

The 35 new deaths bring the province's total to 3,566. 

The province reported 6,537 new cases over the previous three days:

• Jan 28: 2,945 new cases (8,415 tests, 35.35 per cent positivity)
• Jan. 29: 1,815 new cases (5,881 tests, 31.88 per cent positivity)
• Jan. 30: 1,777 new cases (5,035 tests,35.21 per cent positivity)

Even with PCR testing not available to most Albertans, the number of new cases identified and the positivity rate is noticeably declining. The seven-day average for positivity rate is now 36.38 per cent and the weekend saw rates lower than that.

The number of known active cases also continues to decline. There are now 37,468 active cases, far lower than the peak a few weeks ago of 71,811, but still higher than in any previous wave.

The province has not yet released updated vaccination data, but as of Jan. 30, 8,301,446 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.