Alberta reports 315 new cases of COVID-19, 8 new deaths

Alberta's COVID-19 case numbers continue to decline steadily, as the province reported 315 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

Eight new deaths were reported Tuesday, bringing the provincial total to 3,119.

It's the third straight day the province has seen a new case number in the 300s, which hadn't happened since early August. One month ago, the province was reporting about 1,600 new COVID-19 cases per day.

Positivity rates are also falling. The 315 new cases were detected on7,544 tests for a positivity rate of 4.57 per cent lower than the seven-day average of 5.23 per cent.

Active cases declined by 669 from Monday's update. There are 6,911 active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta;here's how they break down regionally:

• Calgary zone: 1,846
• Edmonton zone: 1,540
• North zone: 1,492
• Central zone: 1,274
• South zone: 752
• Unknown: 7

The province released updated R-value information for Oct. 25 to 30th.The provincewide R-value was 0.87, up slightly from the 0.85 reported during the previous period. Any R-value below 1 means transmission is falling, while above 1 means transmission is growing.The Calgary zone saw an R-value of 0.91, while Edmonton had 0.9. The rest of Alberta had an R-value of 0.84.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 were similar to the previous update. There are691 people being treated in hospital for COVID, including 159 in ICU. Of the 159 in ICU, 88.6 per centare unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

Due to a technical issue, the province will not be releasing updated vaccination information until Wednesday. As of Monday's update, about 80.3 per cent of the province's eligible population has had both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.