Alberta reports 134 new cases of COVID-19 along with 3 more deaths

Alberta Health reported three additional COVID-19 deaths and 134 new cases, the largest single-day total in over two weeks.

The new cases upsets a recent downward trend, recently praised by the chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw as a source of collective pride and hard work. The numbers, updated on Friday afternoon, are up-to-date as of the end of Thursday.

The last time Alberta recorded new cases in the triple digits was July 31, when the province detected 101 cases.

According to Friday's update, there are 1,125 active COVID-19 cases in Alberta. The active-case breakdown by region was

• Calgary zone: 368

• Edmonton zone: 329

• Central zone: 224

• South zone: 90

• North zone: 111

While active cases went up, the COVID-19 hospitalization rate continued a downward trend. There are 68 people in hospital, including 18 people in intensive care.

The Good Samaritran Southgate Care Centre, site of the deadliest outbreak in Alberta, reported no new cases of the COVID-19 on Friday. One additional employee had recovered, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 13 staff and 20 residents.

At the centre, 25 residents have died from COVID-19 out of 113 confirmed cases since mid-June.

In all 11,430 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Alberta, of which 208 have died. The number of people who have recovered from the illness has now reached 10,097, according to the update.

Alberta Health Services said it would turn to the private sector to help double its testing capacity and handle asymptomatic tests ahead of September, when daily tests are expected to exceed 20,000 a day, in part because of the return to school.

The province completed 8,533 tests on Thursday. Since the beginning of the pandemic, about one in seven Albertans have been tested