A man in his 40s is among the latest people who have suffered COVID-19-related deaths, according to Waterloo Public Health.
The agency reported three new deaths on Thursday, raising the death toll in the area to 275, including 10 victims over the first eight days of July.
“The individuals were a male in his 40s, a male in his 80s and a female in her 90s,” Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, medical officer of health, stated.
‘I wish to express my deep sympathy to the family and loved ones of each individual.”
Two of three victims lived in long-term-care homes in the area with one being a resident of the Village of Winston Park in Kitchener while the other resided at Colombia Forest in Waterloo.
This is the second death connected to the most recent outbreak at the Village of Winston Park where an outbreak began on Jun 13.
The first victim had been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 but a spokesperson for Waterloo Public Health could not say if any of the latest victims had been vaccinated.
Waterloo Public Health also reported another 52 positive tests for the coronavirus on Thursday, raising the number of cases in the area to 17,904.
This lifts the seven-day average number of new cases back up to 39.9, still well below numbers from a week ago.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 315, down from the 392 reported last Friday.
There are 42 people in area hospitals as a result of COVID-19 including 24 who are in intensive care.
There are still 20 active COVID-19 outbreaks in the area after three were declared over while three other new ones were reported.
The latest outbreaks are in congregate, manufacturing and trades settings while others have ended on the fifth floor of St. Mary’s General Hospital in Kitchener, a mental health ward at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener and in a manufacturing location.
Waterloo Region’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution task force says there have now been 620,708 vaccinations in the area — 12,602 more than it reported a day earlier.The majority — 9,203 — occurred Wednesday while the rest were from previous days.
A total of 79.93 per cent of adults in the area have received at least one jab of vaccine while 46.65 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Those numbers drop to 67.69 per cent and 37.71 per cent when including the entire population of the region.
The province’s goal is to see 75 per cent of the population fully vaccinated, which would in theory achieve herd immunity.
Elsewhere, Ontario reported 210 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the provincial case total to 546,621.
The death toll in the province has risen to 9,228 as four more deaths were reported.
According to Thursday’s report, 52 cases were recorded in Waterloo, 18 in Toronto, 23 in Peel Region, 19 in Hamilton and 17 in Grey Bruce.
All other local public health units reported fewer than 15 new cases in the provincial report.
The differing numbers from the region and the province are due to the fact they collect their data at different points in the day.
–With files from Global News’ Jess Patton
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