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Photo: Government of Alberta
By Curtis Galbraith
COVID-19

Grande Prairie records 37th death from COVID-19, 35 new cases

Sep 23, 2021 | 4:43 PM

The City of Grande Prairie has recorded its 37th death from COVID-19 complications.

Alberta Health says this is one of four deaths being reported in the North Zone for September 22. Those include a female in her 80s, a male in his 90s, and two males in their 70s. All of them had pre-existing health conditions. The communities where they were from were not specified.

There was a total of 17 new deaths reported across Alberta since numbers were updated Wednesday, pushing the total in this province to 2,611

The City of Grande Prairie also added 35 cases along with 61 recoveries for September 22, bringing the active case total in the city down to 465.

In the County of Grande Prairie, there were 236 active cases as of September 22, an increase of 17 from the day before.

Across Alberta, there were 1,660 new cases identified on close to 18,000 tests, resulting in a 9.4 per cent test positivity rate. Currently, there are 20,180 active cases in the province, a decrease of 124.

Active case totals, as of September 22 among Peace Region municipalities, are as follows:

  • City of Grande Prairie: 465 active (-27)
  • County of Grande Prairie: 238 active (+17)
  • MD of Greenview: 119 active (-2)
  • Birch Hills County: four active (same)
  • MD of Spirit River: 13 active (-4)
  • Saddle Hills County: 10 active (-1)
  • MD of Peace: 160 active (+6)
  • MD of Fairview: 48 active (-)
  • MD of Smoky River: 27 active (-1)
  • Big Lakes County: 119 active (-7)
  • Clear Hills County: 39 active (+5)
  • County of Northern Lights: 84 active (-2)
  • Northern Sunrise County: 35 active (+9)
  • Mackenzie County: 236 active (-60)

Across the province, hospitalizations for COVID-19 grew by 18 to 1,058, while the number of ICU patients decreased by four to 226.

Alberta Health Services President and CEO Dr. Verna Yiu says there are a total of 310 people in intensive care in Alberta and 226 of them are being treated for COVID-19.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw says that all of the patients newly admitted to intensive care were not vaccinated.

In the North Zone, hospitalizations grew by one to 135 while the number of ICU patients remained stable at 12.

In Grande Prairie, 65.5 per cent of residents who are eligible (those aged 12 and up) have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 55.4 per cent of the eligible population have been fully vaccinated.

In Alberta, 82 per cent of the eligible population have received one dose of the vaccine, while 73.2 per cent of those eligible are fully vaccinated.

by Curtis Galbraith