On Tuesday, Waterloo Public Health reported that there are now 224 active COVID-19 cases in the region, which is the highest number it has reported in the area since Sept. 20, when there were 251 active COVID-19 cases.
This is just an increase of one over Monday’s number but is 48 more than the agency reported a week earlier.
In addition, the agency announced 23 new positive tests for the coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the area to 20,507.
This lifts the rolling seven-day average number of new cases up slightly to 25.3.
Another 22 people were also cleared of the virus, lifting the total number of resolved cases in the region to 19,975.
There have been no new deaths reported in the area in almost two weeks so the death toll remains at 305 including the two victims in the month of November.
There are also now 17 people in area hospitals (up from 13 Monday) as a result of COVID-19 including three patients in need of intensive care.
The area is also down to 12 active outbreaks after ones were declared over at Southwood Secondary School in Cambridge and connected to a field trip as a new one was announced involving three cases at an unnamed gym.
On the flip side of the coin, Waterloo Public Health says there have now been 908,692 COVID-19 vaccinations done in the area, which is 307 more than it reported 24 hours earlier.
In addition, it says that 450,561 area residents have had two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, which is just 307 more than it announced Monday.
This means that 76.51 per cent of the area’s population is now fully vaccinated a number that jumps to 88.5 per cent when one considers those who are under the age of 11 and therefore ineligible to be vaccinated.
Elsewhere, Ontario reported 481 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, as case counts week over week continue to rise. The provincial case total now stands at 608,206.
For comparison, last Tuesday saw 441 new cases and the previous Tuesday saw 331. All three Tuesdays saw similar testing volumes in the 20,000 range.
Of the 481 new cases recorded, the data showed 236 were unvaccinated people, 18 were partially vaccinated, 189 were fully vaccinated and for 38 people the vaccination status was unknown.
According to Tuesday’s report, 56 cases were recorded in Toronto, 41 in Ottawa, 33 in Simcoe-Muskoka, 31 in Peel Region. 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 9,938 as one more death was recorded.
–With files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues