Alberta reports four more COVID-19 deaths, 410 new cases of illness

Alberta reported four more COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, and again broke the record for active cases of the illness.

The 4,793 active cases was up 55 from the day before. That total has been rising for more than a week.

The number of new cases 410 of Wednesday was down12 from Tuesday and down 94 from the day before that.

Hospitalizations rose by two on Wednesday, to 125, including 19 people in ICU beds.

The four deaths added on Wednesday bring to the death toll to313 since the pandemic began in early March.

Two of most recent deaths, a woman in her 90s and a man in his 80s, werelinked to an outbreak at the Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre. The third death was a man in his 80s from the Edmonton zone.

The fourth death involved a female in her 90s linked to an outbreak at Mount Royal Revera in the Calgary zone.

The Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre has the largest active outbreak in the province, according to Alberta Health.

As of Wednesday, 83 cases have been linked to the outbreak. A statement from Covenant Health posted Wednesday five deaths are linked to the outbreak. A total of 59 residents, one patient and 23 staff members have testedpositive for COVID-19, Covenant Health said.

The General is currently closed to admissions and transfers and is restricting visitors except for end-of-life situations.

Edmonton continues to have the highest number ofactive casesin the province.

The regional breakdown of active cases on Wednesday was:

• Edmonton zone: 2,245, down 45from the day before.
• Calgary zone: 1,788, up 116from the day before.
• North zone: 324, down tenfrom the day before.
• South zone: 256, up twofrom the day before.
• Central zone: 160, down fivefrom the day before.
• Unknown: 20, down threefrom the day before.

The province reported 10,631COVID-19 tests on Wednesday.