Alberta reports 749 new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations leap past 200

Alberta health officials reported 749 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, as hospitalizations in the province jumped past 200.

Including today’s new cases, the province’s active infection count has risen to 6,709.

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Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 continue to rise in Alberta as well, with 221 people now in hospital with the virus.

This is an increase of 23 from Thursday’s count of 198, and includes 48 individuals in intensive care.

One new death caused by the virus were reported over the past 24 hours, bringing Alberta’s COVID-19 death toll to 2,343.

Over the course of the pandemic, a total of 242,997 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been found in Alberta, and 233,945 have since recovered.

As of August 19, there have been been 5,477,098 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered in Alberta. Of those immunized, 77.2% of eligible Albertans have received at least one dose of vaccine and 68.5% have had the two shots that it takes to be fully vaccinated against the virus.