Alberta reports 2,086 new COVID-19 cases, 26 new deaths

Alberta reported 2,086 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the number of active infections in the province to 32,711, a decrease of 1,168 cases from Thursday’s count.

Including today’s new cases, there have been a total of 503,433 confirmed COVID-19 infections in Alberta over the course of the pandemic, and 467,088 have since recovered.

There are 1,584 individuals in hospital with COVID-19, with no change since Thursday. This includes 118 people in intensive care, an increase of six from Thursday.

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As of February 3, 89.9% of Alberta’s eligible population over the age of 12 has had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 86.2% has had two shots.

A total of 8,345,443 doses of vaccine have been administered in the province, and 179,062 children aged five to 11 have received at least one dose of pediatric vaccine.

Since Thursday, 26 new deaths caused by the virus have been reported, raising Alberta’s COVID-19 death toll to 3,634.

On Thursday evening, Premier Jason Kenney teased on social media that the province is set to announce an easing of restrictions sometime early next week, with the Restrictions Exemption Program being the first thing to go.