2 new COVID-19 deaths reported in Waterloo Region for second straight day

For the second straight day, Waterloo Public Health reported that two area residents with COVID-19 have died.

This brings the death toll in the area to 317, including four deaths so far this January.

Global News has contacted Waterloo Public Health for more information about the latest victims.

There are now 61 people in area hospitals suffering from COVID-19, including six patients who are in need of intensive care. That is another 10 patients over what was reported 24 hours earlier.

The agency also announced another 655 positive tests for the coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the region to 28,846.

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Another 482 people were also cleared of the virus, pushing the total number of resolved cases to 24,313.

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This means there are now 4,025 active cases, up from 3,864 on Tuesday.

The area now has 22 active COVID-19 outbreaks after new ones were declared in Kitchener at Forest Heights Revera long-term-care home, Grand River Hospital’s 1F and St. Mary’s General Hospital’s Unit 700. Another one was declared over at Grande River Hospital’s Freeport Campus.

On the other end of the string, there have now been 1,108,998 COVID-19 vaccinations done in the area, 6,881 more than was reported on Tuesday.

A large portion of those were people getting a third dose of vaccine as 170,905 residents have now done so, 6,112 more than Tuesday.

Elsewhere, Ontario reported 11,582 COVID cases as hospitalizations continue to soar. The provincial case total now stands at 828,032.

For the regional breakdown, 2,524 cases were recorded in Toronto, 1,435 in Peel Region, 1,294 in York Region, and 699 in Durham Region. All other local public health units reported fewer than 600 new cases in the provincial report.

Ontario reported 2,081 people in hospital wards with COVID-19 (up by 791 from the previous day) with 288 patients in intensive care units (up by 22). Last Wednesday, there were 726 hospitalizations with 190 in ICUs.

The death toll in the province has risen to 10,252 as 13 more virus-related deaths were reported, including someone under the age of 20.

— with files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues