2 deaths, 3 more hospitalizations from COVID-19 reported in Waterloo Region

Health officials in Waterloo Region reported two more deaths related to COVID-19 on Tuesday as hospitalizations rose by three, now sitting at 51.

The last time hospitalizations were this high was at the peak of spread of the Delta variant back in June.

The region added 487 new cases on Tuesday. Of those new cases, 432 were added in the past 24 hours, while the rest were added to previous days' totals.

To date, the region has reported 28,191 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 23,831 recoveries and 315 deaths. The latest deaths were a man and a woman, both in their 70s.

According to the region’s COVID-19 dashboard, Golden Years LTC has reported one death as it deals with an outbreak involving a total of 23 cases what include six staff and 17 residents.

There are 3,864 active cases listed in the region right now.

There are 51 people receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19, including seven in area ICUs.

A total of 699,950 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Waterloo Region to date. The positivity rate in the region is 31.7 per cent, the highest it has ever been. The reproductive rate is 1.5.

There are 20 active outbreaks listed in the region.

The region's variant of concern breakdown is as follows:

• 3,127 are the Alpha variant
• 21 are the Beta variant
• 98 are the Gamma variant
• 4,049 are the Delta variant
• 92 are the Omicron variant

Health partners have administered a total of 1,102,117 COVID-19 vaccine doses so far, including 169,467 third doses. Of the population aged five and older, 86.27 per cent have one dose and 80.37 per cent have two doses.

As for the entire population, 81.67 per cent have one dose and 76.30 per cent have two doses.

Ontario reported 11,352 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday as hospitalizations continued to increase.

Public Health Ontario says case counts are underestimated due to a lack of testing resources in the province. Ontario's positivity rate is at 30.9 per cent.

There are currently 1,290 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the province, and 266 people receiving treatment in area ICUs.

To date, Ontario has reported 816,450 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 672,081 recoveries and 10,239 deaths.

With files from CTV Toronto