312 active COVID-19 cases reported in Waterloo Region

Waterloo Public Health reported 312 active COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the most the area has seen since July 8 when 315 cases were reported.

The total has jumped drastically over the past few days as there were just 230 active cases last Friday.

The agency reported 48 new positive tests for the coronavirus on Wednesday, lifting the total number of COVID-19 cases in the area to 21,225.

This actually causes the rolling seven-day average number of new cases to take a very slight dip down to 37.4. On Friday, that number worked out to be 26.7.

Another 29 people were also cleared of the virus, lifting the total number of resolved cases in the area to 20,598.

There were no new COVID-19-related deaths reported on Wednesday leaving the death toll in the area at 309 including two victims in December.

There are now 14 people in area hospitals as a result of the virus, including three people in intensive care.

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The region also now has 16 active COVID-19 outbreaks after new ones were declared at a Grand River Hospital’s stroke unit and at an unnamed construction site.

On the flip side of the coin, Waterloo Public Health says there have now been 945,175 COVID-19 vaccinations done in the area, 1,710 more than the day before.

In addition, 455,786 area residents are now fully vaccinated which works out to be 75.31 per cent of all people living in Waterloo Region.

The number of kids aged five to 11 getting their first dose of the vaccine continues to climb rapidly as 28.38 per cent of those in that age group have done so.

Elsewhere, Ontario reported 1,009 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, as case counts continue to rise week over week. The provincial case total now stands at 626,321.

Of the new cases, the data showed 421 were unvaccinated people, 22 were partially vaccinated people, 502 were fully vaccinated people and for 64 people the vaccination status was unknown.

According to Tuesday’s report, 124 cases were recorded in Toronto, 92 in Ottawa, 82 in Simcoe Muskoka, 75 in Windsor-Essex, 69 in the Kingston area, and 50 each in Hamilton and in York Region. All other local public health units reported fewer than 50 new cases in the provincial report.

The death toll in the province has risen to 10,044 as eight more deaths were reported.
 – with files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues