COVID-19: 26 new cases, 1 death reported in Waterloo Region

Waterloo Public Health reported another 26 positive tests for COVID-19 on Wednesday, lifting the total number of cases in the area to 19,313.

This lifts the rolling seven-day average number of new cases back up to 25.1.

Another COVID-19-related victim was reported on Wednesday, the fourth in September, lifting the death toll in the region up to 293.

“Today we are reporting one death in our community related to COVID-19,” Medical Officer of Health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang stated.

“The individual was a female in her 60s. I wish to express my deep sympathy to the family and loved ones of the individual.”

At the same time, it was announced that another 15 people have been cleared of the virus, lifting the total number of resolved cases to 18,817.

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This means the area now has 199 active COVID-19 cases, 10 more than what was reported on Tuesday.

The region is back down to having eight people in area hospitals as a result of COVID-19, including six patients who need intensive care.

The number of COVID-19 outbreaks has also dropped back down to five after one was declared over at the Victoria Place Retirement Home in Kitchener, where a resident recently died during the outbreak.

The region’s COVID-19 vaccine task force says there have now been 841,558 vaccinations in the area, up 1,072 from Tuesday.

A total of 412,107 area residents are now fully vaccinated, which is up 649 from what was reported two hours earlier.

This means that 69.98 per cent of area residents are now fully vaccinated, a number that rises to 81.27 per cent when discounting those not eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.

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Elsewhere, Ontario reported 577 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 575,796.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said of the new cases, 452 are in those who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status, while 125 are in fully vaccinated individuals.

For comparison, last Tuesday, 564 cases were reported.

Seven additional deaths were also announced on Sept. 14, bringing the provincial virus-related death toll to 9,624. Officials said six of the deaths occurred within the past month, while one occurred more than one month ago and was added due to a data cleanup.

A total of 560,069 coronavirus cases are considered resolved, which is up by 683.

–with files from Global News’ Ryan Rocca