Alberta reports 6 new COVID-19 deaths as hospitalizations dip

Alberta reported 967 people in hospital with COVID-19 on Thursday, including 67 in intensive care.

The total number of people in hospital declined by 22 from the previous day's update, while the ICU number dropped by three.

The province also reported six new deaths related to the illness, bringing the pandemic total to 4,019.

Alberta labs completed 2,729 PCR tests on Wednesday and found 619 new cases of COVID-19. The positivity rate was around 21.03 per cent, while the seven-day average for test-positivity is about 20.84 per cent.

There are now 6,552 known active cases of COVID-19 in the province, an increase of 103 from the previous day's update, though the new case and active case numbers only include those who test positive on a PCR, which most Albertans can't access.

The province said about 81 per cent of Albertans had received at least their first dose of a COVID vaccine, and 76.3 per cent had received their second dose, as of Friday's update. About 35.9 per cent of Albertans have had a third dose of vaccine.