20 new COVID-19 cases reported in Waterloo Region

Waterloo -

Health officials in Waterloo Region logged 20 new COVID-19 infections along with more than a dozen variant of concern cases.

The 20 latest cases bring the region's total case count to 18,719, including 18,291 resolved infections, 134 active cases and 288 deaths.

Among the new cases, four are people aged 10 to 19, and five are people in their 20s.

The number of infections confirmed as variant of concern cases rose by 13 in Thursday's update, up to 4,951.

The region's variant breakdown is as follows:

• 3,124 are the Alpha variant, first identified in the United Kingdom and originally known as B.1.1.7
• 21 are the Beta variant, originally detected in South Africa and previously referred to as B.1.315
• 98 are the Gamma variant, initially discovered in Brazil and labelled as P.1
• 1,440 are the Delta variant, first found in India and previously called B.1.617
• 268 cases have had a mutation detected, but have not yet had a variant strain confirmed

Hospitalizations rose by one in the past 24 hours, now up to 17. There are 10 people receiving treatment in area intensive care units.

Across Waterloo Region, there are four active COVID-19 outbreaks.

Another 1,792 COVID-19 vaccine doses were put into arms on Wednesday.

Since the vaccine rollout began, 805,385 doses have now been administered in Waterloo Region.

More than 84.5 per cent of residents 12 and older have now received at least one dose, while 76.59 per cent of the eligible population in the region are fully vaccinated.

Province-wide, 531 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Thursday's update.

Ontario's rolling seven-day average has ballooned to 498, a jump from 375 at the same time last week.

Health officials have now confirmed 557,451 COVID-19 cases and 9,448 deaths since the pandemic began.

With files from CTV Toronto.