Alberta reports 817 new COVID-19 cases as active cases top 6,000

Alberta reported 817 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday and four additional deaths.

As of the latest update, a total of 2,342 Albertans have died of the disease since the beginning of the pandemic. 

The new cases were detected on 9,971 tests with a positivity rate of 8.27 per cent. 

Active cases increased by 434 to 6,367 across the province — the highest count since June 1 at the tail end of the third wave.

According to Alberta Health, 73.35 per cent of active cases are unvaccinated, 11.78 per cent are partially vaccinated and 14.87 per cent are people who are fully vaccinated. 

Here's how active cases break down regionally:

• Calgary zone: 2,113
• Edmonton zone: 1,861
• North zone: 937
• South zone: 887
• Central zone: 551
• Unknown: 18

Meanwhile, 206 more cases of coronavirus variants of concern have been identified in Alberta. The total of known active variant cases is up to 4,682 — or about 79 per cent of all known active COVID-19 cases in Alberta.

Since early July, the highly-infectious delta variant has made up most cases of variants of concern detected in the province.

Hospitalizations from COVID-19 continue to trend upward in the province. There are now 198 people in hospital being treated for COVID. Of these, 43 are in intensive care units — a decrease of five since the previous day.

Currently, 81.31 per cent of those in hospital with COVID-19 in Alberta are unvaccinated, while 13.13 per cent are fully vaccinated and 5.56 per cent are partially vaccinated.

As of the province's latest update, about 77.1 per cent of the eligible population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 68.3 per cent have had both. 

It's estimated that 58.1 per cent of the province's total population have had two doses of vaccine.