Alberta reports 464 new COVID-19 cases, 4 new deaths

A boy gets his vaccine against COVID-19 in Montreal on Wednesday. Nearly 43,000 vaccination appointments were booked Wednesday for Alberta children. (CBC / Radio-Canada - image credit)
A boy gets his vaccine against COVID-19 in Montreal on Wednesday. Nearly 43,000 vaccination appointments were booked Wednesday for Alberta children. (CBC / Radio-Canada - image credit)

Alberta reported 464 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday and the deaths of four people ranging in age from their 50s to their 80s.

The new cases were detected on 10,424 tests.

As of Wednesday's update, there were 470 people in hospital, including 97 in intensive care. The number of patients in ICU is up three from Tuesday, but in general, hospitalizations and ICU admissions have been declining.

Alberta had 5,033 active cases of the disease as of Wednesday. Here's a look at case numbers by zone:

  • Calgary zone: 1,836.

  • Edmonton zone: 1,132.

  • North zone: 883.

  • Central zone: 760.

  • South zone: 415.

  • Unknown: 7.

Wednesday was the first day people could book vaccine appointments for children ages five to 11. A glitch on the Alberta Health vaccination booking site left parents scrambling to cancel and rebook 1,500 appointments made in error.

Later Wednesday, Health Minister Jason Copping tweeted that as of 11:30 a.m., 42,860 pediatric vaccine appointments had been booked.

On the vaccine front, 88.5 per cent of eligible Albertans age 12 and up have received at least one dose, while 83.4 per cent of those 12 and up are fully vaccinated.

That translates to 70.9 per cent of the total Alberta population.