Alberta reports 81 new cases of COVID-19, no new deaths

Alberta reported 81 new cases of COVID-19the highest number in the month of July, so far and no new deaths from the disease Wednesday.

While COVID-19 hospitalizations have continued to decline, the province is experiencing anuptick in daily case counts, active cases and positivity rate.

The 81 cases were detected on6,479 tests Tuesday, with a positivity rate around 1.4 per cent.

There are currently95people being treated in hospital for COVID-19in Alberta. Of those,27are in intensive care units.

There are now 649 active cases of COVID-19 across the province, an increase of 43 from the previous day.

Here's how active cases break down regionally:

• Calgary zone: 378
• Edmonton zone: 128
• North zone: 63
• Central zone: 46
• South zone: 34

Alberta labs identified an additional61cases of coronavirus variants of concern, including 54 cases of the highly infectiousdelta variant.

With no new COVID-19 deaths reported Wednesday, the total remains unchanged at 2,318.

Across the province 19,527 COVID-19 vaccines were administered Tuesday, bringing the total to5,100,111.

About 74.9 per cent of eligible Albertans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 60.7 per cent have had two doses.

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Alberta Health published new data Wednesday showing the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.From Jan. 1 to July 17, 95.2 per cent of cases in Alberta were people who were unvaccinated or diagnosed within two weeks from the first dose immunization date.In the same time frame,92.2 per cent of hospitalizationswerepeople who were unvaccinated or diagnosed within two weeks of their first dose, as were 86.8 per cent of deaths.

The province estimates that a single dose of vaccine is 57 per cent effective against the delta variant, while two doses is 85 per cent effective.