New COVID-19-related death reported in Waterloo Region, death toll reaches 117

Waterloo Public Health reported the area’s first COVID-19-related death in nearly two weeks on Friday.

A spokesperson for the health unit told Global News that the victim was a man over the age of 80 who acquired the virus through community transmission.

The last fatality in the region associated with the coronavirus was reported on June 29.

The death toll has risen to 117 people, including 95 who were residents of long-term-care or retirement homes.

2:07 Political conflict over Ontario long-term care funding

Waterloo Public Health also reported two new positive tests for the novel coronavirus, raising the total number of cases in the area to 1,333.

It also announced that seven more people have been cleared of the virus, bringing the total number of resolved cases in the area to 1,163.

There remain 53 active cases in the area, including 10 people who are in hospital with COVID-19-related illness.

There have been 40,279 tests conducted in the area, an increase of 1,896 since the numbers were last updated on Tuesday.

0:54 Coronavirus: Ontario introduces measures to give municipalities ‘new tools and supports’ amid economic crisis

Ontario reported 116 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the provincial total to 36,464.

The death toll in the province has risen to 2,710, as seven new deaths were reported.