The number of new COVID-19 cases continues to plummet across most of Ontario but Waterloo remains an outlier.
The Ontario government reported just 296 new positive tests for the coronavirus on Tuesday, while Waterloo Public Health reported 51 new COVID-19 cases.
The time frame on when they collect data is slightly different so the numbers do not always match.
There have now been 16,715 COVID-19 cases in Waterloo Region.
Fifty-two people are now in area hospitals (including those in Guelph and Fergus) with 22 in need of intensive care.
A day ago, Waterloo Public Health reported that there were 38 people in hospitals as a result of COVID-19.
No new COVID-19-related deaths were reported on Tuesday, leaving the death toll at 258, including two this month.
With only 37 people being cleared of the virus, the area now has 484 active COVID-19 cases.
There are now seven active COVID-19 outbreaks in the area after new ones were declared at a food and beverage location and at a trade’s worksite.
The region’s COVID-19 vaccine task force says there have now been 419,770 vaccinations in the area, 7,132 more than reported a day earlier.
The number of people getting a second dose continues to escalate quickly as that number increased by 4,407 to 56,693.
The task force says 72.35 per cent of adults in the area have received at least a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 12.14 per cent of adults in the area are fully vaccinated.
The Ontario numbers were the lowest the province has reported in nine months as the provincial total now stands at 540,426.
Tuesday’s case count is the smallest increase in new cases since Sept. 17, 2020, when 293 new cases were recorded. It is also the ninth straight day cases are below 600.
According to Tuesday’s report, 60 cases were recorded in Toronto, 62 in Peel Region and 15 in York Region.
The death toll in the province has risen to 8,974 as 13 more deaths were recorded.
—With files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues