WATERLOO -- Health officials in Waterloo Region added 44 new COVID-19 cases Thursday as more than 65 per cent of adults in the area have now received at least one vaccine dose.
The new cases bring the region's total caseload to 16,070, with 15,492 cases considered resolved and 312 active.
No new deaths have been reported since May 18. Since the pandemic began, 256 people in Waterloo Region have died from the disease.
Another 15 cases were confirmed as variants of concern Thursday, with 3,285 total cases now confirmed as variants.
The majority are the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the United Kingdom, 27 are the P.1 variant originally detected in Brazil, 12 have been linked to the B.1.1617 variant initially identified in India and six are the B.1.351 variant first discovered in South Africa.
Hospitalizations in the region increased by one to 18 people, with half of those receiving care in area intensive care units.
There are now only five active outbreaks in Waterloo Region, down by one in the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, health partners in the area administered another 6,365 COVID-19 vaccine doses Wednesday, bringing the total number of shots delivered to 335,802.
More than 65 per cent of adults in the community have received at least one dose, with 4.94 per cent of people 18 and older considered fully vaccinated.
Across Ontario, health officials logged 870 new COVID-19 cases, the fourth day in a row cases have been below 1,000.
Ontario’s rolling seven-day average now stands at 940, down from 1,441 at this point last week.
Some 34,277 COVID-19 tests were processed in the past 24 hours, with the province's positivity rate sitting at 2.8 per cent on Thursday.
Officials also said that 10 more people have died due to COVID-19 in the previous 24-hour period, bringing the total number of fatalities to 8,801.
Thursday’s report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 533,761, including deaths and recoveries.
