23 new COVID-19 cases reported Saturday in Waterloo Region

KITCHENER -

The Region of Waterloo reported 23 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday.

The total number of infections in Waterloo Region since the start of the pandemic now sits at 18,391.

As of Saturday, active cases jumped by nine to 142, deaths remain unchanged at 282, and resolved cases rose by 14 to 17,957.

Hospitalizations increased to 16, one more since Friday’s update. The number of people currently receiving treatment in intensive care units remains steady at 11.

As for outbreaks, those remain unchanged at six across Waterloo Region.

Another four infections have been identified as variants of concern.

That’s a significant change from Friday’s update of 63 new variant cases.

The total number of variants identified in Waterloo Region now stands at 4,750.

Here’s is the breakdown for Saturday:

• 3,122 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
• 96 are the Gamma variant, initially discovered in Brazil and labelled as P.1
• 1,253 are the Delta variant, first found in India and previously called B.1.617
• 258 cases have had a mutation detected, but have not yet had a variant strain confirmed

Meanwhile 258 new cases were confirmed across Ontario Saturday, marking the third day the daily COVID-19 case count was above the 200 mark.

The were also six more deaths related to the disease, bringing that total to 9,345.

The province says the number of patients in intensive units is dropping with 112 currently receiving medical care.