Alberta reports 1,051 new COVID-19 cases, 16 new deaths Friday

Alberta public health officials reported 1,051 new cases of COVID-19 and16 more deaths Friday.

Since the pandemic began, 2,946 Albertans have died fromCOVID-19.

The new cases reported Friday were detected through 14,054 tests. The test-positivity rate is about 7.5 per cent.

Although Friday's case count is higher relative to other days this week, the number of active cases continue to drop. There are12,978 active cases of COVID in Alberta.

Here's how active cases break down regionally:

• Calgary zone: 3,295
• Edmonton zone: 3,050
• North zone: 2,588
• Central zone: 2,562
• South zone: 1,463
• Unknown: 20

Alberta has seen a significant drop in known active cases sincethe start of October when there were20,215. But federal data showsAlberta still leads the country by far, accounting for over a third of active cases in Canada.

Currently, there are 1,000 people being treated in hospital for COVID-19, including 229 in intensive care. About 77 per cent of those in hospital currently are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, while 23 per cent are fully vaccinated.

As of 2:15 p.m. Friday,there were 287 of Alberta's 376 ICU beds were occupied bypatientsin Alberta hospitals. Most of those patients are COVID positive, according to Alberta Health Services.

ICU capacity, including surge beds,is 76 per cent as of Friday.Without the surge beds,the province's ICU capacity would be at 163 per cent, AHS says.

As of Friday's update, 76.7 per cent of Albertans aged 12 and up have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine;85.8per cent of eligible Albertans have at least one doseavaccine.

When factoring children not yet approved for the vaccine, 65.3 per cent of Alberta's population has received two jabs.

The national average for full vaccination of total population is about 72 per cent.