Waterloo Public Health reported an astonishing 517 new positive tests for the coronavirus on Wednesday, lifting the total number of COVID-19 cases in the area to 24,866.
This is the most cases reported in the area in one day, and it pushes the seven-day rolling average number of new daily cases up to 339.4.
Prior to this month, Waterloo Public Health had never reported 200 new cases in a single day, let alone approached the 500-case mark.
There was a new death reported on Tuesday but none on Wednesday, which leaves the death toll at 313, including six victims in December.
Another 231 people were also cleared of the virus, as there have now been 22,005 people in the area who have recovered from COVID-19.
This leaves the area with 2,376 active COVID-19 cases, another record-setting number for Waterloo Region.
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There are now 24 people in area hospitals as a result of COVID-19, including eight people who are in need of intensive care. Those numbers have doubled over the past two weeks as the surge of the Omicron variant continues to take hold of the area.
The area is back down to 22 active COVID-19 outbreaks after a new one was declared at Trinity Village Long Term Care in Kitchener after four staff members tested positive, while others came to an end at Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School in New Hamburg and St. Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Elementary School in Cambridge.
The latter two outbreaks were declared on Monday as there were 11 declared at schools in the area. Of the 22 active outbreaks, 17 are connected to schools across the region.
Waterloo Public Health continues to steamroll ahead with vaccinations as there have now been 1,058,813 done in the area, which is 7,900 more than was reported on Tuesday.
As has been the case of late, it appears to be people getting a third dose of vaccine that are leading the way as a total of 127,267 residents have now done so, which is 7,243 more than was reported 24 hours earlier.
Elsewhere, Ontario reported 10,436 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, setting a new record for the most cases recorded within 24 hours. The provincial case total now stands at 725,841.
Wednesday’s count edged out the previous single-day high reported on Christmas Day, when 10,412 new cases were recorded.
For the regional breakdown, 2,715 cases were recorded in Toronto, 1,252 in York Region, 1,066 in Peel Region, 644 in Ottawa, 524 in Durham Region, and 539 in Hamilton. All other local public health units reported fewer than 500 new cases in the provincial report.
The death toll in the province has risen to 10,171 as three more virus-related deaths were reported.
— with files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues
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