Waterloo public health is reporting 82 new cases of COVID-19 cases on Friday, raising its total case count to 13,085.
Among the new cases, 29 are variants of concern raising the total amount of variant cases in the area to 1,026.
The region has reported its first cases of the B.1.351 variant that was first detected in South Africa and the P.1 variant first detected in Brazil.
As of Friday, there are 605 active cases in Waterloo Region, which is down by 20 from the previous day.
Among the active cases, 34 are being treated in a hospital, including 15 in intensive care.
Another 98 people have been cleared of the virus, lifting the total number of resolved cases to 12,212, while the number of fatal cases remains unchanged at 246 after one death was reported on Wednesday.
Active COVID-19 outbreaks in the region have increased by three in the past day to 20.
New outbreaks have been declared at Queensmount Public School, an unnamed retailer and an unnamed auto dealership.
The region’s vaccine distribution task force says 137,336 vaccinations have been completed in the region, 4.168 more than what it reported on Thursday.
At least 20.66 per cent of Waterloo Region residents have now received at least one dose of vaccine.
Ontario is reporting 4,812 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, marking another single-day high for the second day in a row. The provincial total now stands at 408,383.
The death toll in the province has risen to 7,664 as 25 more deaths were recorded.
Meanwhile, 360,742 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is about 88 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 3,151 from the previous day.
Ontario reported a record 1,955 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 (up by 23 from the previous day) with an all-time high of 701 patients in intensive care units (up by 42) and 480 patients in ICUs on a ventilator (up by 38).
— With files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues