Record-breaking 31 COVID-19 deaths announced on Saturday

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“Let’s keep the momentum going by continuing to follow the current measures in place, as well as all other public health guidance.”

The number of active COVID-19 cases in Alberta also rose considerably Saturday, jumping to 14,437 from the 13,628 active infections reported Friday. About 36 per cent of active infections are in the Calgary region.

An additional 4,647 Albertans received their first dose of vaccine for the coronavirus by end of day Friday, putting the province’s total to 42,333.

The update comes the day after Alberta announced its first case of a new, more contagious variant of COVID-19 first found in South Africa.

As of Saturday, there was one case of the South Africa variant and four cases of a separate but also more contagious United Kingdom variant in Alberta.

Each case is travel-related and is thought to carry no risk of further transmission, according to Alberta Health.

The emergence of these variants in Alberta means was not unexpected, according to Dr. Jason Kindrachuk, a virologist at the University of Manitoba.

“They both appear to be able to transmit much more widely than the current circulating strain does,” Kindrachuk said, adding the increased chance of transmission doesn’t come with increased severity of disease.

“The problem with the wider transmission is, of course, if you have a virus that’s transmitting widely, you’re going to end up with more cases at a faster pace, and as we know with more cases there’s more hospitalizations, there’s more ICU admissions.”