For the second straight day, the number of people who have been cleared of the coronavirus in Waterloo Region has outpaced the number of new cases.
Waterloo Public Health announced Friday that 10 more people have tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to 897.
The agency also said another 18 people had been cleared of the virus, raising that total to 436, which is 49 per cent of all cases.
A day earlier, 16 people were said to have caught the virus while another 23 were cleared of it.
“In terms of number of cases every day getting the virus versus number that are resolved, I wouldn’t really see too much in to it in terms of the direct relationship to the two but they’re both good signs,” Waterloo’s acting medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang said.
“The number of cases going down is a good sign that no number of cases getting resolved is a good sign.”
Three more residents of Trinity Village have died, bringing the death toll at the Kitchener long-term care home to 13.
Overall, 101 people have now suffered COVID-19-related deaths in Waterloo Region, including 82 residents of long-term care or retirement homes.
Fifty-nine per cent (528 cases) of the positive tests have come from residents or staff at nursing homes in the region, while 22 per cent (196 cases) have come through community transmission. The remainder have come through close contact with a confirmed case (15 per cent/135 cases) or travel (four per cent/38 cases).
Ontario reported 477 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Friday, bringing the provincial total to 19,598 cases.
The provincial death toll has risen to 1,540, as 63 more deaths were reported.