COVID-19 hospitalizations drop slightly to 99 in Waterloo Region
A total of 99 people are in hospital currently positive and receiving treatment for COVID-19 in Waterloo Region hospitals, Wednesday’s dashboard update shows.
Hospitalizations dropped by eight from Tuesday, when there were a record 107 hospitalizations reported. There are 14 people in area ICUs. Hospital officials have said, the numbers only reflect patients who are still COVID-19 positive and there are still a number of those who are no longer infectious needing hospital care.
Health officials reported 510 more COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the region’s total to 32,659 to date. That includes 25,289 recoveries and 320 deaths. There are at least 6,797 active cases in the region.
There are 62 active outbreaks listed in the region, including 24 in congregate settings, 32 in long-term care or retirement homes and six in hospitals.
The region’s variant of concern breakdown is as follows:
- 3,127 are the Alpha variant
- 21 are the Beta variant
- 98 are the Gamma variant
- 4,098 are the Delta variant
- 264 are the Omicron variant
A total of 1,159,046 vaccine doses have been administered in Waterloo Region to date, including 221,197 third doses. Of the eligible population aged five and older, 86.92 per cent have one dose and 81.08 per cent have two doses.
As for the entire population, 82.27 per cent have one dose and 76.79 per cent have two doses.
Across the province, there are 3,448 people in hospital who have tested positive for COVID-19, along with 505 in Ontario’s ICUs.
The province also reported Wednesday that 54 per cent of the hospitalizations are people who are in hospital primarily due to COVID-19, while the remaining 46 per cent were admitted for other reasons but are now testing positive for the virus.
In intensive care, 83 per cent of patients are admitted primarily for COVID-19, while the remaining 17 per cent have tested positive but are being treated for another issue.
Another 46 deaths were reported in Ontario on Wednesday.
There were another 9,782 cases reported in the province, although health officials say case numbers are an underestimate.
With files from CTV Toronto
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
McDonald's to sell its Russian business, try to keep workers
More than three decades after it became the first American fast food restaurant to open in the Soviet Union, McDonald's said Monday that it has started the process of selling its business in Russia, another symbol of the country's increasing isolation over its war in Ukraine.

'Hero' guard, church deacon among Buffalo shooting victims
Aaron Salter was one of 10 killed in an attack whose victims represented a cross-section of life in the predominantly Black neighbourhood in Buffalo, New York. They included a church deacon, a man at the store buying a birthday cake for his grandson and an 86-year-old who had just visited her husband at a nursing home.
Ontario driver who killed woman and three daughters expected to be sentenced today
A driver who struck and killed a woman and her three young daughters in Brampton, Ont., nearly two years ago is set to be sentenced today.
Justice advocate David Milgaard remembered as champion for those who 'don't have a voice'
Justice advocate David Milgaard, a man who was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent more than two decades in prison, has died.
First patient in Quebec gets approval from Health Canada for magic mushroom therapy
In Montreal, a pioneering clinic in the emerging field of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is about to become the first health-care facility in Quebec to legally treat depression with psilocybin.
Total lunar eclipse creates dazzling 'blood moon'
The moon glowed red on Sunday night and the early hours of Monday, after a total lunar eclipse that saw the sun, Earth and moon form a straight line in the night sky.
EU's Russia sanctions effort slows over oil dependency
The European Union's efforts to impose a new round of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine appeared to be bogged down on Monday, as a small group of countries opposed a ban on imports of Russian oil.
Shanghai says lockdown to ease as virus spread mostly ends
Most of Shanghai has stopped the spread of the coronavirus in the community and fewer than 1 million people remain under strict lockdown, authorities said Monday, as the city moves toward reopening and economic data showed the gloomy impact of China's 'zero-COVID' policy.
California churchgoers detained gunman in deadly attack
A man opened fire during a lunch reception at a Southern California church, killing one person and wounding five senior citizens before a pastor hit the gunman on the head with a chair and parishioners hog-tied him with electrical cords.