Everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Thursday, June 24

The latest COVID-19 numbers:

• Alberta reported 73 newcases of COVID-19 on Thursday, out of 5,715testsover the past 24 hours.
• The province is reporting its lowest active case count of COVID-19 since October there are1,580active infections in the province,downfrommore than20,000 a month earlier, when Alberta imposed tougher public health restrictions.
• There were 190people in hospitalin Alberta, one less than the previous day.Of those in hospital, 50were in intensive care units.
• Alberta's positivity rate is1.38 per cent.
• Alberta reported one new deathon Thursday. There have now been2,293COVIDdeaths,while227,768Albertans are considered to have recovered from COVID-19.
• The latestR-valuewas 0.75,meaning the virus is spreading to less than one person for each confirmed case. That number has slightly decreased from the previous week.
• Two units at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary are dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks, one of which involves the more rapidly spreading delta variant, or B.1.617.2.There had been a third outbreak, also of the delta strain, but it has ended, the province says.
• Three deaths at the Foothills hospital have been linked to the delta variant, Alberta Health Services says.
• The latest death at Foothills involved a man in his 60s who was not immunized and had significant comorbidities, according to Alberta Health Services.
• A total of 22 people linked to outbreaks on two units at Foothills have tested positive for the variant as of June 18. An earlier tally of 23 cases was revised to 22 because one case had been incorrectly identified, the province says.
• There have been no new confirmed cases since last week.

The latest on restrictions and reopenings:

• Alberta's general COVID-19 mask rules won't be completely gone by July 1st as the province moves to Stage 3 of its reopening plan. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health, says some rules will remain in place after the mask mandate in indoor public places lifts on Canada Day.
• She says masks will continue to be required in taxis, on public transit and on ride shares, as well as in continuing care and acute care settings.
• As for municipal mandates,Calgary will have its mask mandate in place until at least July 5, and Edmonton will make a final decision on its policy on June 25.
• Many of Alberta's COVID-19 public health restrictions were lifted June 10as the province enteredStage 2ofathree-stage plan.
• Stage 2 required 60 per cent of those 12 and older to have had at least one vaccine shot and fewer than 500 infected patients in hospitals.
• Entertainment venues, including movie theatres, casinos and museums, are being allowed to reopen at one-third capacity.
• Restaurants can seat diners inside rather than just on patios, and private social gatherings outdoors can have up to 20 people.
• There are no longer any restrictions on youth and adult sports.
• Up to 150 people are being allowed at public outdoor events, and grandstands for sports and other entertainment can open at one-third capacity.
• Masking and distancing requirements are still in place at this time.
• A full list of current restrictions is available on the province's website.
• Albertans can track the province's immunization progress onalberta.ca.
• Fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents will be able to enter Canada without undergoing quarantine starting the night of July 5, the federal government announced on June 21. However, Canadians and permanent residents who are fully vaccinated won't be able to simply walk through customs.Those entering will need to show documents proving they received doses of vaccines approved in Canada at least 14 days prior to entering the country.
• Officials said travellers must electronically submit COVID-19-related information to the government'sArriveCANapp before arriving,meet the pre- and on-arrival test requirements, be asymptomaticand have a suitable quarantine plan.

(Note the latest daily count of new cases in the above chart will usually vary slightly from the net new cases Alberta Health announces each day. For more on why, click here.)

The latest on vaccines:

• As of Thursday, 28.1 per cent of Albertans have been fully vaccinated, and 71.1per cent of those ages 12 and older have been vaccinated with one dose.
• Alberta has now administered3,963,419dosesofCOVID-19 vaccine,includingPfizer-BioNTech, Modernaand AstraZeneca-Oxford.
• Anyone who received their first mRNA (Pfizer or Moderna) dose in May or earlier can book their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the province announced on Friday. Also,anyone who received a first mRNA dose in June can also now book their second dose once four weeks have passed since their first shot.
• Alberta is offering $3 million in lottery winnings to encourage more people to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Three $1-million prizes will be available for Albertans aged 18 and over who have had at least one dose. To register, eligible Albertans must fill out their information at alberta.ca/lottery.
• The province has also added travel prizes and tickets to the Calgary Stampedeto the lottery.
• Albertans who received their first doses of COVID-19 vaccine as late asApril can start booking their second shots immediately, Premier Jason Kenneyannounced on June 10.
• The province's current inventory includes more than 453,000 doses of Pfizer and Moderna, the two approvedmRNA vaccines, Alberta Health spokesperson Tom McMillan said Monday in an emailed statement.
• The province expects to receivefewer Pfizer doses in the coming weeks than it had anticipated.But an increase in Moderna shipments means Alberta will see an overall increase in supply of mRNA vaccines in July, hesaid. The two vaccines are considered interchangeable and those who received a Pfizer dose for their first shot can get a Moderna dose for their second.
• The provinceallows those who received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for their first dose to get either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna for the second, or they canget anotherAstraZeneca vaccine shot.

You can see active cases by local health area on the following interactive map. Scroll, zoom and click on the map for more information:

See which regions are being hit hardest:

Here is thedetailed regional breakdownof active cases as reported by the province on Thursday.

• Calgary zone: 814.
• Edmonton zone:246.
• Central zone: 159.
• South zone: 70.
• North zone: 291.
• Unknown: 0.

How Alberta compares to other provinces and territories:

Find out which neighbourhoods or communities have the most cases, how hard people of different ages have been hit, the ages of people in hospital, how Alberta compares to other provinces and more in: Here are the latest COVID-19 statistics for Alberta and what they mean.

Here are the latest Alberta COVID-19 stories: