By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

MONDAY UPDATE

Transmission rate down across Alberta, Red Deer with 474 active cases

Oct 18, 2021 | 4:24 PM

R VALUES

New R values show a diminishing transmission rate of COVID-19 in Alberta.

An R value above 1.0 means transmission rate is increasing, while a value of 1.0 means an infected person will infect one other person. Below 1.0 means transmission rate is decreasing.

For Oct. 11-17, province-wide, the R value was 0.85. In Edmonton Zone, it was also 0.85, Calgary Zone’s was 0.8, and the rest of Alberta was 0.84.

For the period of Sept. 27 to Oct. 3, Alberta’s average R value was 0.92. In Edmonton Zone, the rate was 0.86, Calgary Zone was 0.93, and the rest of Alberta was 0.94.

mayor hopes to meet housing minister this month

Alberta demands Ottawa back off on housing funding stripped from Red Deer

19h ago

Last seen Jan. 15

Missing: Courtney Cattleman, 17, of Maskwacis

Apr 02, 2026

eyes up

Air Spray training around Red Deer Regional Airport

Apr 02, 2026

For the period of Sept. 13-19, Alberta’s value was 1.04, Edmonton was at 0.97, Calgary at 0.94, and the rest of Alberta at 1.15.

For the period of Aug. 16-22, Alberta’s value was 1.19, Edmonton was 1.32, Calgary was 1.05, and the rest of the province was at 1.22.

R value numbers are updated by Alberta Health every two weeks.

PROVINCIAL NUMBERS

Provincially, new case numbers are lower over the weekend.

Over the past three days, Alberta Health confirmed a combined 2,181 new cases, with 783 on Friday, 791 on Saturday, and 607 on Sunday.

There are now 12,302 active cases, down 676 from Friday. That’s also down 2,993 from last Tuesday’s total of 15,295.

Active cases by age

Under 1: 74
1-4: 518
5-9: 1191
10-19: 1727
20-29: 1500
30-39: 2335
40-49: 1852
50-59: 1285
60-69: 985
70-79: 498
80+: 333

An average of 10,081 tests were conducted each day over the past three days. The seven-day positivity rate is currently 7.68 per cent.

Provincially, 981 patients are currently hospitalized with COVID, down 19 over the weekend, including 225 who have been admitted to intensive care, down four.

Of the 756 people hospitalized but not in ICU, 458 are completely unvaccinated, 78 have received one dose, and 220 have two doses.

Of the 225 in ICU, 192 are completely unvaccinated, 10 have one dose, and 23 have two doses.

Since Friday’s update, there has sadly been 30 new deaths added to the provincial COVID-19 death toll, which stands at 2,976. That’s up from 113 from last Tuesday. Included in deaths reported over the weekend were a male in his 30s from North Zone, a male in his 40s from Edmonton Zone, and a female in her 40s from Central Zone.

CENTRAL ZONE

Over the weekend, Red Deer added 97 cases, 158 recoveries and zero fatalities.

That leaves Red Deer with 474 active cases, down (net) 61 from Friday. That’s also the lowest number of active cases in the city since Sept. 3.

On Sept. 27, Red Deer hit a new record of 915, breaking its previous record of 911 set May 8, 2021 at the height of the third wave.

Red Deer has now recorded 8,768 total cases, 8,222 recoveries and 72 deaths.

Red Deer’s active case rate is currently 445.5 per 100,000 people, compared to 148.7 for City of Calgary and 166.0 for City of Edmonton.

Central Zone nearly hit a new pandemic record high for one-day positivity rate over the weekend. With 609 tests conducted on Oct. 17, the positivity rate was 24.96 per cent. To contrast, the highest rates of the weekend for other zones were 5.67 per cent (Oct. 15-Calgary), 6.89 per cent (Oct. 17-Edmonton), 16.3 per cent (Oct. 17-North), and 11.82 per cent (Oct. 17-South).

The entire Central Zone has 2,393 active cases as of Monday, down 169 from Friday. There are 178 hospitalizations, up one, and 20 people are receiving intensive care at Red Deer Regional Hospital, up six from Friday.

The zone has had 331 deaths linked to the virus, with 10 reported over the weekend.

Active cases across Central Zone (three-day change)

Red Deer County: 138 (-8)

Sylvan Lake: 72 (-4)

Lacombe County: 154 (-38)

Lacombe: 97 (-19)

Ponoka County: 260 (-5)

Brazeau County: 114 (+5)

Clearwater County: 160 (-33)

Mountain View County: 69 (-4)

Olds: 26 (–)

Kneehill County: 97 (-9)

County of Stettler: 68 (-5)

VACCINATIONS

In Alberta, 6,350,131 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have now been administered as of the end of Oct. 17. That’s up 46,077 over the weekend.

Of the 12+ population, 86.0 per cent has received at least one dose (73.2% total population), while 77.4 per cent of the 12+ population is now fully vaccinated (65.8% total population).

In Red Deer, 71,620 (78.1% eligible/67.3% total) people have received at least one dose, up 251 over the last three days.

Meanwhile, 64,202 residents (70.0%/60.3%) are fully vaccinated, up 799. (*Government of Alberta uses a population of 106,395 for Red Deer; of those 91,672 are eligible)