Another 29 COVID-19 cases reported in Waterloo Region on Friday

Waterloo Public Health reported 29 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the most since Sept. 18, when 26 cases were announced.

This brings the total number of cases in the area to 19,534. It also lifts the rolling seven-day average number of new cases up to 22.9.

For the second straight day, the agency did not announce any new COVID-19-related deaths, leaving the death toll in the area at 297, including the eight victims in September.

A further 34 people were also cleared of the virus, pushing the total number of resolved cases in the region to 19,063.

The area is back down to 170 active cases, a drop of six from Thursday. Ten of those are patients in area hospitals, including six who need intensive care.

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The area now has 12 active COVID-19 outbreaks after one was declared in the manufacturing sector involving three people.

Waterloo Public Health says there have now been 854,061 vaccinations done in the area, 1,606 more than it announced on Thursday.

It says 419,902 area residents are now fully vaccinated, 1,606 more than it announced 24 hours earlier.

It means that 71.31 per cent of area residents are now fully vaccinated, a number that climbs to 82.81 per cent when considering only those who are eligible to be vaccinated.

Ontario is reporting 727 new COVID-19 cases on Friday as the seven-day average continues to decline. The provincial case total now stands at 582,635.

According to Friday’s report, 144 cases were recorded in Toronto, 83 in Peel Region, 70 in Ottawa, 66 in Hamilton, 54 in York Region, 35 in Durham Region, 33 in Windsor-Essex and 30 in Eastern Ontario Health Unit.

All other local public health units reported fewer than 30 new cases in the provincial report.

The death toll in the province has risen to 9,688 as 11 more virus-related deaths were recorded, including three from more than a month ago due to data cleanup.

—with files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues