Alberta reports 582 new COVID-19 cases as active cases continue to rise

Alberta public health officials reported 582 new cases of COVID-19 Friday, marking the third day in a row the daily case count surpassed the 500 mark.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, announced Friday that Alberta would delay plans to remove public health measures like mandatory isolation, public testing and mandatory masking on transit, .

She cited non-ICU hospitalization trending higher than anticipated as one motivator for the reversal.

Friday's update saw hospitalizations rise by six to 152, including 37 patients in intensive care units.

One additional death was reported, bringing the total number of Albertans who have died from COVID-19 to 2,332. 

The number of known active cases is now up to 4,438 — an increase of 337 since Thursday's update. 

Here's how active cases break down across the province:

• Calgary zone: 1,790
• Edmonton zone: 1,063
• South zone: 639
• North zone: 623
• Central zone: 313
• Unknown: 10

Meanwhile, 593 more cases of coronavirus variants of concern have been identified in Alberta. The total of known active variant cases is up to 3,575 — or about 81 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.

Another 9,300 COVID-19 tests were conducted Thursday. The province's test-positivity rate is 6.17 per cent.

There were 7,879 more doses of vaccine administered Wednesday.

About 77 per cent of Albertans aged 12 and up have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine; 67.5 per cent have received two doses.