Alberta reports 35 more COVID-19 deaths as hospitalizations continue to drop

Alberta reported 35 more COVID-related deaths on Monday as the province provided an update to COVID-19 data from the weekend.

With 35 new deaths, the province's total has reached 3,776.

Except for one, all of the newly reported deaths occurred from Feb. 5 to 13 across all health zones. The other death was Jan. 30.

The people who died ranged from their 30s to their 90s. The list includes a man in his 30s and a woman in her 30s, neither with pre-existing conditions. Both died in the Edmonton zone.

The number of people in hospital with COVID dropped from 1,566 on Friday to 1,528 Monday. The number of people in ICU dropped by three to 127.

The province reported a combined 2,647 new cases of COVID-19 over the past three days:

Feb. 11: 1,146 cases (4,330 tests, 30.03 per cent positivity)
Feb. 12: 866 cases (3,463 tests, 25.14 per cent positivity)
Feb. 13: 635 cases (2,423 tests, 26.41 per cent positivity)

The seven-day average for test-positivity is 29.25 per cent.

The number of known active cases in the province is also dropping, even though it only includes lab-confirmed positive results from PCR tests, which most Albertans can't access. There are now 20,865 known active cases in the province, down from 24,154 on Friday.

According to the latest update, about 80.7 per cent of Albertans have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 75.3 per cent have had two and 34.6 per cent have had three doses.

Starting on Tuesday, young Albertans between the ages of 12 and 17 with underlying health conditions and all First Nations, Métis and Inuit youth in the same age group will be eligible to book a booster dose.

The province also announced that youth aged 12 to 17 with immunocompromising conditions will be eligible to book a fourth dose. All children aged five to 11 who have specific immunocompromising conditions can book a third dose as part of their primary series.