Alberta reports 1,519 new COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths

Alberta reported 29 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 1,519 new cases of the disease, the province's chief medical officer of health reported Tuesday.

"Some of these individuals were double vaccinated and had pre-existing health conditions that compromised their immune systems but most were not vaccinated at all," Dr. Deena Hinshaw said of the most recent deaths.

"These numbers could have been very different and that makes these losses even harder for those who are left behind. Our actions every day are literally a matter of life and death and should be treated as such."

There are now 996 people in hospital, including 222 in intensive care, Hinshaw told a news conference.

That is the highest number of ICU patients since the pandemic began.

Hinshaw said 13,600 tests were performed with a positivity rate of 11.1 per cent. Another 2,011 cases of variants of concern have been identified, she said.

New Health Minister Jason Copping, sworn in Tuesday in a cabinet portfolio swap with Tyler Shandro, told the news conference he will focus on permanently increasing baseline hospital capacity, educating vaccine-hesitant Albertans to boost vaccination numbers, and helping the health system better prepare for future waves of COVID-19.