No new COVID-19 deaths reported in Waterloo Region; 87 in hospital

No new deaths related to COVID-19 were reported in Waterloo Region on Tuesday.

The latest dashboard update shows 87 COVID-19-positive patients are receiving treatment in area hospitals, including 19 people in intensive care.

The number of active outbreaks dropped by four Tuesday, now sitting at 47. There are 25 outbreaks in long-term care/retirement homes, 12 in congregate settings and 10 in local hospitals.

"Monitoring in schools and daycares is not showing any concerning trends at this time," said Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, the Medical Officer of Health for the Region of Waterloo. "Hospitals are still caring for a very high number of people with COVID-19. The strain on our healthcare system is likely to remain high for a few more weeks."

Another 88 cases were added to the regional total on Tuesday. To date, the region has reported 39,207 lab-confirmed cases of the disease, including 37,631 recoveries and 377 deaths.

There are 1,175 active cases in the region.

Testing partners have performed 747,866 COVID-19 tests to date. The seven-day average positivity rate has dropped to 9.8 per cent, down from 12.3 per cent on Friday.

A total of 1,241,551 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Waterloo Region, including 283,182 third doses.

Of the eligible population aged five and up, 88.49 per cent have received one dose and 84.12 per cent have two doses.

In Ontario, the number of patients in ICUs with COVID-19 dropped to the lowest levels since early January. The latest update shows 474 in provincial ICUs. There are 2,254 people in hospital with COVID-19.

Another 2,092 lab-confirmed cases were reported Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 1,058,241 since the pandemic began.

The province also reported 42 more deaths Tuesday, bringing the provincial death toll to 11,878. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said the deaths happened over the past 26 days.

With files from CTV Toronto