Alberta surpasses 20,000 active COVID-19 cases as 3rd wave continues to grow

Walk-in appointments for the AstraZeneca-Oxford shot will no longer be available to most Albertans Monday, Alberta Health Services said, as active COVID-19 cases surged above 20,000 in the province. 

"Due to demand from eligible Albertans, today was the last day for walk-in AstraZeneca appointments at most AHS clinics," the health authority said on Twitter Sunday night. "Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray will continue to have walk-in opportunities on a first come, first served basis for the next few days."

AstraZeneca vaccine bookings multiplied after Alberta lowered the age of eligibility for the shot to those 40 and over last Monday. 

Alberta reported 1,437 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday and three more deaths.

There were 17,025 tests completed Saturday for a positivity rate of around 8.6 per cent.

Alberta identified another 932 variant cases, making up 61 per cent of the province's 20,136 active cases.

The last day there were more than 20,000 active cases was Dec. 15, 2020, when Alberta recorded 20,020 active cases, Alberta Health Services said.

On Sunday, there were 594 people in hospital with the illness, an increase of 10 from Saturday. That includes 140 in intensive care unit beds, an increase of 11.

The three deaths reported Sunday occurred on Friday, in the Calgary and Edmonton zones. 

The regional breakdown of active cases on Sunday is:

• Calgary zone: 8,383
• Edmonton zone: 5,700
• North zone: 2,766
• Central zone: 2,165
• South zone: 966
• Unknown: 56

On Sunday, Alberta reported 1,398,673 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered as of Saturday, an increase of 37,308 doses over the last 24 hours.