Alberta reports an estimated 300 new COVID-19 cases, including 54 involving variants

Alberta reported an estimated 300 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, including 54 more cases involving variants of concern.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province's chief medical officer of health, posted a "preliminary" update Sunday afternoon to Twitter. Due to system upgrades, she said online case counts would not be updated until Monday.

The latest numbers show laboratories completed around 8,100 tests for a positivity rate of about 4 per cent, Hinshaw said.

No information for newly-reported deaths was provided.

As of Sunday, Alberta has administered 290,391 doses of vaccine in Alberta with 90,937 Albertans fully immunized with two doses.

"Vaccines save lives and encourage everyone to get immunized when it's your turn," Hinshaw said.

Earlier this week, the government announced it would expand its COVID-19 vaccine rollout to include people under age 75 starting March 15 — and, if shipments arrive as scheduled, all adults in the province will receive their first dose by the end of June.

• Alberta to expand COVID-19 vaccine rollout starting March 15, health minister says
• 341 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in Alberta, along with 1 additional death

The province reported 341 new cases of COVID-19 around the province on Saturday and one additional death. Across the province, there were 247 in hospital and 42 in intensive care.

On Saturday, the province also reported 36 new cases of the COVID-19 variant that was first detected in the United Kingdom. Sunday's estimated 54 variant concern cases would bring the total to 653.

Alberta's online COVID-19 dashboard will be updated Monday, Hinshaw said. A live update is also expected.