KITCHENER -- The active COVID-19 case count in Waterloo Region has dropped by 45 as health officials report 56 new positive cases.
The Saturday afternoon dashboard update also shows 103 more cases that are now considered resolved, and no new related deaths.
There have been 101 more cases identified as variants of concern, while the number of B.1.1.7 variants (first detected in the U.K.) has gone up by three. The B.1351 (first detected in South Africa), and P.1 (first detected in Brazil) variant counts have stayed the same.
The number of hospitalizations has gone down by six, while the count of those being treated in the ICU has gone up by one.
This brings Waterloo Region`s COVID-19 totals to 14,257 confirmed cases, 13,436 resolved, 252 deaths, 1,931 variants of concern, 50 B.1351 variants, 2 B.1.351’s, 5 P.1’s, 543 active cases, 59 hospitalizations, and 33 in the ICU.
Active COVID-19 facility outbreaks in the area have also gone down by five and now stand at a total of 21.
An outbreak at an unnamed construction site has been declared, while outbreaks at a public school program, an office, two other construction sites, a manufacturing facility, and Doon Village Retirement Residence have been declared over.
In Ontario, health officials reported 3,369 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, which is down from the 3,887 new cases on Friday.
For the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic, patients admitted to intensive care units across the province due to COVID-19 has hit 900. That is up from the 883 patients on Thursday.
Ontario logged 29 additional COVID-19-related deaths in the previous 24-hour period, which bring the total number of fatalities to 8,079.
The province also deemed 3,964 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Saturday, bringing Ontario's number of recovered patients up to 421,216.
