Fifteen new COVID-19-related deaths have been reported in Alberta.
On Wednesday, the provincial government released the latest COVID-19 numbers, summing up the week of June 28 to July 4.
Alberta has recorded 4,636 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
Hospitalizations are down compared to the week before. There were 568 individuals in the hospital with COVID-19 the past week, which is 21 fewer than the prior week.
But intensive care unit admissions were higher. Twenty-one people were in the ICU with COVID-19 – 13 were admitted a week earlier.
There are 82 hospitalizations in Alberta Health Services’ central zone, including two in the ICU.
Provincially, 1,124 cases were reported over the seven-day period. In Red Deer, 21 new cases were identified in that time period. there have been 114 COVID-19-related deaths in Red Deer since the beginning of the pandemic.
Red Deer County has had 11 new cases in the past week, Sylvan Lake has had 18, Lacombe County has had 14, the City of Lacombe has has 22, Mountain View County has has 10, Olds has had four, and Clearwater County and Stettler County have had none.
Twenty-eight new cases were identified in Wetaskiwin County, including Maskwacis, one was identified in Ponoka, including East Ponoka County, and none were identified in Rimbey, including West Ponoka County and part of Lacombe County.
Meanwhile, one was identified in Camrose County, one was identified in the City of Camrose, one was identified in Kneehill County and none were identified in Drumheller.
Late last month, Minister of Health Jason Copping said it’s been a tough spring for the health system in Alberta and across Canada.
“We know the pandemic is not over,” Copping said in a statement June 29.
“We have to expect cases to increase again, most likely in the fall, and we’re preparing for that. We’ll continue to closely monitor the emergence of new variants and keep Albertans informed of the risks from the pandemic and how we’re responding to them.”
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