Waterloo Public Health reported two more COVID-19-related deaths on Monday, raising the death toll in the area to 319, including six victims in January.
“Today we are reporting two deaths in our community related to COVID-19. One individual was a female in her 80s. The other individual was a female in her 90s,” medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang stated.
“I wish to express my deep sympathy to the families and loved ones of these individuals.”
One of the victims was a resident of the Village at University Gates Retirement Home where a COVID-19 outbreak was declared on Jan. 4, which has now been connected to 13 cases, including four among residents.
There are now 58 COVID-19 outbreaks in the area, up from 39 on Friday, including 31 in long-term-care or retirement homes and 21 in congregate settings with the other six being connected to area hospitals.
There are also now 94 patients in area hospitals due to COVID-19, including 13 people who need intensive care. This is up from the 69 patients reported on Friday.
In addition, Waterloo Public Health reported another 1,639 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, lifting the total number of cases in the area to 31,662.
This drops the rolling seven-day average number of new daily cases to 565.4 as 1,728 cases were reported a week ago.
There were also another 275 people over the three-day reporting period who were cleared of the virus, lifting the total number of resolved cases to 25,064.
This means that the number of active COVID-19 cases in the region jumps to 6,058, up from the 4,720 which was reported 72 hours earlier.
Meanwhile, Waterloo Public Health reports that there have now been 1,148,314 COVID-19 vaccinations done in the region, up 21,327 from Friday’s report.
Another 1,277 area residents have now had two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, lifting the total to 464,170, which means that 76.69 per cent of area residents are now considered fully vaccinated.
That said, another 18,010 area residents received their booster shot, raising that total up to 204,833. The region has not provided a percentage total but that represents about a third of the population.
Elsewhere, Ontario reported 2,467 people with COVID in hospital as the province continues to deal with the Omicron wave impacting hospitals and ICUs.
The province also announced another 9,706 new COVID cases on Monday. The provincial case total now stands at 888,297.However, due to recent testing eligibility changes, the province warns the counts are an underestimate of the true spread of the virus in the community.
For the regional breakdown, 1,879 cases were recorded in Toronto, 1,310 in Peel Region, 1,033 in York Region, 680 in Durham and 565 in Ottawa. 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 10,378 as 12 more virus-related deaths were added.
— with files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues
Comments