COVID-19 numbers on the rise in Waterloo Region once again

The number of new COVID-19 cases continues to rise once again in the area as Waterloo Public Health reported 28 new positive tests for the coronavirus on Friday.

On Sunday, that number was nine and it has risen ever since, now reaching a total it has not seen in almost three weeks.

There have now been 18,368 cases overall in Waterloo Region since the area had its first confirmed case in March 2020.

The rolling seven-day average is now back to up to 15.9, still down from the average of 19 totalled last Friday.

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There are also now 133 active COVID-19 cases, up from 119 on Thursday. Fifteen of those people are in area hospitals with 11 of those patients needing intensive care.

Another 13 people were also cleared of the virus, lifting the total number of resolved cases in the area to 17,943.

For a week straight now, no new COVID-19-related deaths have been reported in the area, leaving the death toll at 282, including 17 victims this month.

The region’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution task force says 59.46 per cent of area residents are now fully vaccinated against the disease.

A total of 350,168 residents have now been vaccinated, 3,836 more than was reported by the task force on Thursday.

There have also now been 758,343 jabs in the area, 4,596 more than was reported 24 hours earlier.

Elsewhere, Ontario reported 226 COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 550,178.

It marks the second day in a row the province reported more than 200 cases after weeks of being below that level.

For comparison, last Friday, 192 cases were reported.

Eleven new deaths were also announced on July 30, bringing the provincial virus-related death toll to 9,339.

—With files from Global News’ Ryan Rocca