Waterloo Region down to 5 active COVID-19 outbreaks

Waterloo Public Health reported that the region is down to five active COVID-19 outbreaks in areas of concern, the lowest total since last November.

Then, the list also included businesses and schools, among other places, whereas now it is just areas of concern, which includes hospitals, retirement homes and congregate settings.

Outbreaks were declared over at Grand River Hospital and in a congregate setting, which left the area with three outbreaks at hospitals and one in a congregate setting.

The area’s three hospitals continue to see a decline in COVID-19 patients as there are now 21, including 10 that need intensive care. Both numbers fell by one on Wednesday.

Waterloo Public Health also announced another 78 new positive tests for the coronavirus on Wednesday, lifting the total number of COVID-19 cases in the area to 40,974.

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This lifts the rolling seven-day average number of new daily cases back to 51.3. A week ago, that number was 51.2, although the testing numbers are considered an under-estimate of actual community caseload since changes to testing availability have decreased the veracity of the totals.

Another 84 people were also cleared of the virus, lifting the total number of resolved cases in the region to 40,102.

And for the third straight day, no new COVID-19-related deaths were reported in the area, leaving the death toll at 400, including 87 in 2022.

This leaves the area with 468 active COVID-19 cases, a slight increase from Tuesday, when it was 467.

Elsewhere, Ontario reported 751 people in hospital with COVID-19 on Wednesday, with 241 in intensive care units.

Meanwhile, Ontario also reported 1,947 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, though that is an under-estimate of the true widespread transmission of the virus due to testing restrictions. The provincial case total now stands at 1,117,439.

The death toll in the province has risen to 12,618 as 27 more virus-related deaths were added. Wednesday’s report indicated 20 of the deaths occurred within the last 30 days while seven of the deaths occurred more than a month ago.

— with files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues