By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Monday Update

Alberta hits 11% positivity rate in past 24 hours of COVID testing

Apr 19, 2021 | 4:22 PM

On the day the province made it official that people 40 and older will soon have access to the AstraZeneca vaccine, it also added 1,391 new cases of COVID-19.

RELATED: Alberta drops AstraZeneca vaccine eligibility to age 40

With 12,588 tests completed in the last day, the one-day positivity rate is ~11.1 per cent.

Today’s increase also means there are now 18,424 active cases of COVID-19 provincewide, up 489. Recoveries now total 151,719.

Meantime, there were 1,160 new variant cases confirmed in the last day (included in the overall daily total). Active variant cases rose by 688 to 10,456, and now make up 56.8 per cent of all active COVID-19 cases in Alberta, up more than two per cent from yesterday.

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There are 460 Albertans currently in hospital with COVID-19, up nine from Sunday, while 104 of those patients are in ICU, up one..

There have been three additional deaths reported to Alberta Health in the last 24 hours, bringing the virus’ death toll in our province to 2,043.

· Date of death: April 17 – A male in his 70s in Central Zone. The case included comorbidities.

· Date of death: April 18 – A female in her 60s in Calgary Zone. The case included comorbidities.

· Date of death: April 18 – A female in her 70s in North Zone. The case included comorbidities.

In Red Deer, the total number of cases since the pandemic began is 3,689, up 35 in the last 24 hours.

Recoveries are up by 13 to 3,182, and active cases have risen in the past day from 449 to 471. There have been 36 deaths, none of which were reported today.

Active cases across Central Zone

Red Deer County: 121 (+9)

Sylvan Lake: 62 (+5)

Lacombe County: 72 (+6)

City of Lacombe: 87 (+9)

Ponoka County: 173 (-4)

Maskwacis: 49 (+7 from three days ago)

Clearwater County: 26 (+3)

Brazeau County: 53 (-4)

Mountain View County: 79 (+1)

Olds: 74 (+6)

Kneehill County: 41 (+1)

County of Stettler: 20 (+1)

Central Zone currently has 1,930 active cases, up 81. The zone has recorded 13,945 total cases since the pandemic began. There are 46 people in hospital, down three, and three Albertans are in ICU at Red Deer Regional Hospital. The zone has recorded 130 deaths, including one today.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, will give her next live update on Tuesday.