Waterloo Region reports 18 new COVID-19 cases

Waterloo Public Health is reporting 18 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday as the region’s total case count climbed to 19,667.

It’s the fifth straight day the area has seen fewer than 20 new confirmed cases.

Active cases have fallen by three from the previous day to 146 with another 21 people recovering from the virus.

That pushes the total number of resolved cases up to 19,220. The region’s death toll related to the coronavirus remained at 299.

Nine people with COVID-19 are currently being treated in an area hospital, including seven in intensive care.

The area is down to seven active COVID-19 outbreaks after one was declared over at St. Brigid Catholic Elementary School in Ayr, Ont.

That means there are now three outbreaks among schools in the region.

Waterloo Public Health is reporting that 84 per cent of eligible residents are now considered fully vaccinated, while 89.2 per cent have received one dose.

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At least 426,003 residents in Waterloo Region are considered fully vaccinated and 863,269 doses have been administered.

1:58 First Nations communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19

Ontario recorded 647 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and 668 on Friday, bringing the provincial case total to 586,817.

The Ministry of Health had not released updated data on Thursday because it was a federal holiday.

Of the 668 new cases recorded Friday, the data showed 394 were unvaccinated people, 39 were partially vaccinated people, 166 were fully vaccinated people and for 69 people the vaccination status was unknown.

The death toll in the province has risen to 9,743 as 20 more deaths were recorded over the two days. However, the ministry of health noted some of those deaths occurred more than a month ago and were noted due to a data cleanup.

— With files from Global News’ Jessica Patton