Regional public health reports 4 new COVID-related deaths, no new outbreaks

FILE - James Robson, a biomedical engineering graduate student, holds a swab and specimen vial in the new COVID-19, on-campus testing lab, Thursday, July 23, 2020, at Boston University in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

WATERLOO -

The Region of Waterloo reported four new deaths related to COVID-19 on Wednesday.

Regional spokesperson Sharon Ord confirmed to CTV News the individuals were two men, one in his 80s and the other in his 50s; and two women, one in her 90s and the other in her 80s.

Wednesday's update showed a decrease in the number of people who are COVID-19-positive in hospital, now at 131. That number dropped by five from Tuesday. Officials have said there are several more patients who are no longer COVID positive but still require hospital care.

As of Wednesday, 21 people are receiving care in an area intensive care unit.

No new active outbreaks were declared in the past 24 hours. The region's COVID-19 dashboard lists 76 active outbreaks, including 39 in LTC and retirement homes, 28 in congregate settings and nine in local hospitals.

The region logged 359 new COVID-19 cases, with 220 recorded in the past 24 hours and the rest coming from previous reporting dates.

In total, the Region of Waterloo has reported 35,790 cases since the pandemic began, including 26,285 resolved infections and 328 deaths.

There are at least 3,843 active COVID-19 infections across the region. As of Monday, the region began deeming an active case resolved 14 days after its episode date, unless the case is hospitalized.

Of the latest infections, two were identified as the Alpha variant, 30 were determined to be the Delta variant and 41 were confirmed as the Omicron variant.

The region's variant of concern breakdown is as follows:

• 3,129 are the Alpha variant
• 21 are the Beta variant
• 98 are the Gamma variant
• 4,132 are the Delta variant
• 371 are the Omicron variant

Health partners have administered a total of 1,194,994 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine across Waterloo Region, including 251,315 third doses.

The region reports 81.68 per cent of the eligible population aged five and older is fully vaccinated and 87.51 per cent has received one dose.

Among the region's entire population, 77.36 per cent is fully vaccinated and 82.81 per cent has gotten one jab.

The province confirmed 4,132 people are in hospital with COVID-19, and 589 of those patients are in intensive care.

Ontario reported 5,744 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, but health officials have warned that number is an underestimate due to testing limitations and backlogs.

In total, 969,437 infections have been logged since the pandemic began, including 874,445 resolved cases and 10,726 deaths.

With files from CTV Toronto