Omicron cases soaring as Alberta reports 1,925 new cases of COVID-19 over 3 days

Confirmed cases of the Omicron variant have seen a drastic increase as Alberta released its COVID-19 data from the past three days.

Omicron cases now total 1,045, an increase of 879 from Friday's update. More than half of the cases, 613, are located in the Calgary health region.

Overall, the province identified 1,925 new cases of COVID-19 in tests done from Friday to Sunday:

• Dec. 17: 627 new cases (10,063 tests, 6.39 per cent positivity)
• Dec. 18: 721 new cases (8,710 tests, 8.34 per cent positivity)
• Dec. 19: 577 new cases (6,504 tests, 8.8 per cent positivity)

Both the average number of new daily cases and the positivity rate have been trending upward in recent days, with the last two days seeing the highest test-positivity rate since October.

The province also reported six new COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the provincial total to 3,292 since the pandemic began.

Active cases of COVID-19 saw a noticeable jump from Friday, up by 1,221. There are now 5,652 active cases in Alberta. 

Here's how they break down regionally:

• Calgary zone: 2,924
• Edmonton zone: 1,630
• Central zone: 492
• North zone: 380
• South zone: 212
• Unknown: 14

COVID-19-related hospitalizations declined by 20 since Friday's update. There are now 324 people in hospital with the disease, including 69 in ICU. 

As of Monday's update, about 72.5 per cent of Albertans are considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and 649,557 additional doses of vaccine (third doses) have been administered.