Waterloo Public Health reported another 46 positive tests for the coronavirus on Thursday, raising the total number of cases in the area to 21,271.
This is the second consecutive day the agency has announced more than 40 cases. The rolling seven-day average number of new daily cases climbs to 39.6.
Another 10 people were cleared of the virus pushing the number of resolved cases in the region to 20,608.
For the second straight day, no new COVID-19 related deaths were announced, leaving the death toll in the area at 309 including two victims in December.
This leaves the region with 346 active COVID-19 cases, 107 more than just seven days earlier. This is also the highest number announced since July 5, when there were 357 active COVID-19 cases.
Among those are 12 people in area hospitals, including two who are in intensive care.
There are also still 16 active COVID-19 outbreaks, nine of which are connected to schools. This number is unchanged from Wednesday.
On the other end of the spectrum, Waterloo Public Health says there have now been 947,309 COVID-19 vaccinations in the area, which is 2,134 more than it announced Wednesday.
A total of 456,004 area residents are now fully vaccinated, which is 228 more than reported 24 hours earlier.
This means that 75.34 per cent of all area residents are now fully vaccinated.
Elsewhere, Ontario reported 1,290 new COVID–19 cases, the largest increase in cases since late May and a fourth wave high. The provincial case total now stands at 627,611.
For comparison, last Thursday saw 959 new cases and the previous Thursday saw 748. Over the last three days, there were 1,009 new cases reported Wednesday, 928 on Tuesday and 887 on Monday.
However, the province processed over 40,000 tests the most in several months and patients with COVID in ICUs remained unchanged from the previous day.
Of the 1,290 new cases recorded, the data showed 548 were unvaccinated people, 42 were partially vaccinated people, 617 were fully vaccinated people and for 83 people the vaccination status was unknown.
According to Thursday’s report, 206 cases were recorded in Toronto, 114 in Windsor-Essex, 103 in Simcoe-Muskoka, 98 in the Kingston area, 71 in Peel Region, and 66 in York Region. All other local public health units reported fewer than 65 new cases in the provincial report.
The death toll in the province has risen to 10,054 as 10 more deaths were reported.
—With files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues