5 new COVID-19 deaths reported in Waterloo Region, death toll reaches 197

Waterloo Public Health reported five new COVID-19-related deaths on Wednesday, bringing the death toll in the area to 197.

There have now been 15 deaths reported in the area during the past week, and 32 in January.

“Today we are reporting five deaths in our community where COVID-19 was a contributing factor. The individuals were a male in his 50s, a male in his 80s, a male in his 80s, a female in her 90s and a female in her 100s,” Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, Medical Officer of Health. “I wish to express my deep sympathy to the family and loved ones of each individual.

“While we have seen some improvement in our current trends, the increase in deaths is not unexpected. Hospitalizations, people requiring ICU care and sadly, deaths, are lagging indicators that we see increase in the weeks following high case rates.”

Four of the deceased came from the Chartwell Westmount Retirement Residence, which has now been connected to 12 deaths since an outbreak began on Dec. 27.

Over that span, 66 residents and 49 staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Get weekly health news

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.

Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

The outbreak at Chartwell Westmount is one of 38 active outbreaks in Waterloo Region.

1:44 Canada Post employee dies amid COVID-19 outbreak at Mississauga facility

That number is one less than Wednesday after an outbreak was declared over in a congregate setting.

Waterloo Public Health reported another 78 positive tests for the coronavirus on Wednesday raising the total number of cases in the area to 9,172.

This is the fifth consecutive day there have been less than 100 new cases reported in Waterloo Region.

Another 110 residents have also been cleared of the virus, lifting the total number of resolved cases to 8,322.

This means the number of active cases in the area continues to drop drastically as that total now stands at 647.

A total of 47 of those people are currently in area hospitals including 11 who are in intensive care.

Elsewhere, the province reported 1,670 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, the third day in a row cases are below 2,000. The provincial total now stands at 260,370.

Wednesday’s case count is lower than Tuesday’s which saw 1,740 new infections. On Monday, 1,958 new cases were recorded and 2,417 were reported on Sunday.

It is also the lowest increase in daily cases since Nov. 26 when 1,478 new cases were reported.

“Locally, there are 450 new cases in Toronto, 342 in Peel, 171 in York Region and 128 in Niagara,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said.

The death toll in the province has risen to 5,958 after 49 more deaths were reported.

–With files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues