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Active outbreaks surge as Waterloo Region logs 50 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday

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Waterloo Region logged 50 more COVID-19 cases Tuesday as active outbreaks of the disease jumped up to 18.

The new batch of cases comes at Waterloo Region hits a major milestone in its vaccine rollout, more with more than 75 per cent of adult residents having now received at least one dose.

Among the 50 new infections, 42 were dated for Tuesday, while the other eight were from previous reporting periods.

That brings Waterloo Regions cumulative caseload since the pandemic began to 17,139, including 16,331 resolved, 522 active and 260 deaths.

ACTIVE OUTBREAKS SPIKE

The number of active outbreaks in Waterloo Region rose by seven in the past 24 hours, with 18 outbreaks now confirmed.

The majority are workplace or facility outbreaks, while three current outbreaks are in congregate living settings.

There are currently 52 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Waterloo Region, with 21 of those people receiving care in area intensive care units.

POSITIVITY RATE DIPS SLIGHTLY

Health partners across the region completed another 3,812 COVID-19 tests since Friday. More than 511,142 tests have been processed since the pandemic began.

The region's positivity rate dropped slightly over the past few days, declining from 8.0 per cent on Friday to 6.4 per cent on Tuesday.

The reproductive rate of the virus also fell, dropping from 1.2 on Friday to 0.9 Tuesday.

The seven-day moving average rate of cases per 100,000 is 10.1. By comparison, the provincial case rate per 100,000 is 2.0.

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

Another two cases were confirmed as variants of concern in Tuesday's report, bringing the total number of variant cases to 3,567.

Health officials have confirmed the Delta variant is now the dominant strain in the community.

Waterloo Region's variant breakdown is as follows:

  • 3,070 are the Alpha variant, first identified in the United Kingdom and originally known as B.1.1.7
  • 11 are Beta variant, originally detected in South Africa and previously referred as B.1.315
  • 61 are the Gamma variant, initially discovered in Brazil and labelled as P.1
  • 116 are the Delta variant, first found in India and previous called B.1.617
  • 309 cases have had a mutation detected, but have not yet had a variant strain confirmed

VACCINATION MILESTONE

Another 7,302 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered on Monday, bringing the total number of jabs in arms in Waterloo Region to 474,314.

About 75.17 per cent of adults in the region have now received at least one dose, while 20.16 per cent of residents 18 and older are fully vaccinated.

As of Wednesday, residents who received their first shot of an mRNA vaccine on or before May 30 are eligible to book an earlier second dose appointment. The Region of Waterloo is also launching an update booking portal on Wedensday.

PROVINCE-WIDE SNAPSHOT

Ontario reported 296 new COVID-19 infections Tuesday, bringing the province's cumulative caseload to 542,764, including 9,082 deaths and 530,434 recoveries.

Health officials reported 60 more COVID-19-related deaths, however, 54 of those are from previous months. A data clean-up is behind the reporting delay.

The seven-day rolling average for the number of cases reported in Ontario sits at 334. Last week, that number was 478.

With files from CTV Toronto.

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