Fort McMurray’s active total of COVID-19 cases is continuing to rise.

The province also announced on Tuesday 1,743 new cases in the province over the past 24 hours.

There are currently 23,623 active cases across Alberta, while there have been a total of 198,653 positive tests.

There are also 671 Albertans in the hospital for the virus, 150 of which are in ICUs.

Locally, Fort McMurray added 144 new cases and 93 recoveries in the past 24 hours which puts the active total at 1,509.

The rural areas added four new cases and one recovery, raising the total of active cases to 49.

Wood Buffalo National Park remains at zero active cases.

According to the RMWB, there are 38 people being treated for the virus at the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre. Eleven of these individuals are being treated in the ICU.

Mayor Don Scott says he’s been told by management at the hospital that ‘they are busy but managing.’

The region remains the worst in the province when it comes to spread of the virus.

The RMWB is averaging around 1,866 cases per 100,000 individuals.

The next closest is Lac La Biche County which is averaging roughly 510 fewer cases per 100,000 people.

In total, 3,289 individuals across the RMWB – 3,115 in Fort McMurray, 164 in the rural areas, and 10 in Wood Buffalo National Park – have recovered.

They are among the 172,931 who’ve recovered across the province. This represents 87 per cent of reported cases.

There were also nine new deaths from COVID-19 in Alberta over the past 24 hours – raising the total at 2,099.

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