28 new COVID-19 cases logged in Waterloo Region on Friday; active cases rising
Health officials in Waterloo Region reported 28 new COVID-19 cases on Friday as active cases continue to rise for the second day in a row.
Of the 28 new cases, 25 are linked to Thursday while three are from a previous reporting period. The latest cases bring Waterloo Region's total case load to 18,368, including 282 deaths and 17,943 resolved infections.
Active cases jumped by 14 in the past 24 hours, up to 133.
Hospitalizations also rose by two in Friday's update, now sitting at 15. Of those, 11 people are receiving treatment in area intensive care units.
There are currently six active COVID-19 outbreaks across the region.
Health partners have processed 541,773 COVID-19 tests since the pandemic began. As of Friday, the region's positivity rate sits at 1.9 per cent, with the reproductive rate of the virus is up to 0.9.
Another 63 infections were confirmed as variant of concern cases in Waterloo Region, all of which were linked to the Delta variant. Since the pandemic began, 4,746 cases have been confirmed as variants of concern.
The region's variant breakdown is as follows:
- 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
- 1,250 are the Delta variant, first found in India and previously called B.1.617
- 257 cases have had a mutation detected, but have not yet had a variant strain confirmed
Meanwhile, health partners in Waterloo Region put 4,586 COVID-19 vaccine jabs into arms on Thursday, bringing the total number of doses administered to 758,343.
More than 69 per cent of the eligible population is fully vaccinated, while 82.85 per cent of residents 12 and older have received at least one dose.
Waterloo Region public health will not be updating its COVID-19 dashboard on Monday because of the holiday.
Province-wide, heath officials confirmed 226 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, marking the fifth day in a row of rising infection numbers.
Ontario's lab-confirmed COVID-19 case total is now 550,178, including 539,348 recoveries and 9,339 deaths related to the disease.
With files from CTV Toronto.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Freddie Mercury's home is on the market for first time since 1980 minus his 'exquisite clutter'
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
'The lost season': Winter comes to a close as Canada's warmest on record
The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.