Fort McMurray is seeing another slight drop in active COVID-19 cases.

The province announced on Tuesday 1,449 new cases in the province over the past 24 hours.

There are currently 24,998 active cases across Alberta, while there have been a total of 211,836 positive tests.

There are also 705 Albertans in the hospital for the virus, 163 of which are in ICUs.

Locally, Fort McMurray added 87 new cases and 93 recoveries in the past 24 hours which puts the active total at 1,475.

The rural areas added nine new cases and five recoveries, raising the total of active cases to 71.

Wood Buffalo National Park remains at one active case.

Fort McMurray and the rural areas continue to sit second and third-worst in the province when it comes to spread of the virus.

The community is averaging around 1,857 cases per 100,000 people, while the rural areas are sitting at 1,749 cases per 100,000 individuals.

Lac La Biche County is the only area worse as they’re averaging around 173 more cases per 100,000 residents.

In total, 4,080 individuals across the RMWB – 3,888 in Fort McMurray, 182 in the rural areas, and 10 in Wood Buffalo National Park – have recovered.

They are among the 184,719 who’ve recovered across the province. This represents just over 87 per cent of reported cases.

There were also three new deaths from COVID-19 in Alberta over the past 24 hours – raising the total to 2,119.

To date, five individuals in Fort McMurray have died as a result of the virus.

Vaccine Update

The province is temporarily halting first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, also announced on Wednesday a decrease in global supply is forcing the province to keep all remaining shots for people who’ll need their second in the coming weeks.

Moving forward, those receiving their first shot will either get the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.