Hospitalizations continue record climb as active COVID cases see decline

CALGARY — Alberta reported 1,246 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

The new case numbers come after more than 11,000 tests were completed, for a positivity rate of around 11.2 per cent.

WATCH: Dr. Deena Hinshaw is joined by Premier Jason Kenney, Health Minister Jason Copping and Justice Minister Kaycee Madu to provide an update on COVID-19 in Alberta.

While new COVID-19 case numbers have remained above 1,000 for several weeks, active cases of the virus declined slightly over the last day.

There are now 20,513 active infections in Alberta — a 794 case decrease from Monday.

An additional 18 deaths were reported on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, hospitalization numbers continue to break records for the province, as there are now 1,100 people in hospital with COVID-19, 263 of which are in the ICU.

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Alberta’s top doctor once again displayed the importance of getting vaccinated, saying when it comes to severe outcomes, the unvaccinated continue to be hit hard.

“About three in four of (deaths in the last four months) were not fully vaccinated against COVID. Almost four out of five of all those in hospital for COVID-19 and 91 per cent of those in ICU in the last 120 days were also not fully vaccinated.

“These numbers speak for themselves.”

When it comes to vaccinations in Alberta, the province has now administered more than six million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

Of the eligible population, 83.2 per cent have received at least one dose, while 74 per cent are now fully vaccinated.