Three more COVID-19-related deaths in Waterloo Region; 60 new cases

Waterloo -

Three more Waterloo Region residents died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, as health officials confirmed another 60 new infections on Wednesday.

The deaths include a man in his 70s, a woman in her 80s, and a woman in her 90s

"I wish to express my deep sympathy to the family and loved ones of each individual," medical officer of health Dr. Hsui-Li Wang said in a statement.

Another 86 cases were also confirmed to be the Delta variant, with 422 cases total now identified as that variant.

The new cases brings the total number of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began to 17,584, including 16,885 resolved infections and 416 active cases.

The three latest deaths bring Waterloo Region's total death toll to 265.

Regional officials said there won't be a COVID-19 update on Thursday because of the holiday.

LARGE NUMBER OF DELTA CASES CONFIRMED

Another 93 cases were confirmed as variants of concern on Wednesday, bringing the total number of variant cases in the region to 3,891.

A large batch of cases, 86, were confirmed as the Delta variant, which health officials have said is now the dominant strain in the region.

Waterloo Region's variant breakdown is as follows:

• 3,083 are the Alpha variant, first identified in the United Kingdom and originally known as B.1.1.7
• 11 are the 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
• 422 are the Delta variant, first found in India and previous called B.1.617
• 314 cases have had a mutation detected, but have not yet had a variant strain confirmed

ACTIVE CASES DROP

Active cases in Waterloo Region dropped by 41 in the past 24 hours, down to 416.

Hospitalizations dipped by one on Wednesday, with 55 people now hospitalized with the disease. Of those, 24 are receiving treatment in intensive care units.

Three more outbreaks were also declared in the past day, bringing the total number of active outbreaks to 22. Most of the outbreaks are in workplace or facility settings.

In a tweet Wednesday, Region of Waterloo Public Health said close contact spread accounts for about 50 per cent of recent cases. Outbreak-related cases make up about 13 per cent of cases.

VACCINATION PUSH CONTINUES

Health partners in Waterloo Region administered another 9,712 COVID-19 vaccine doses on Tuesday.

A total of 548,471 jabs how now been put in arms since the vaccine rollout began.

More than 78.4 per cent of adults in the region have received at least one dose, while more than 34 per cent of residents 18 and older are fully vaccinated – a jump of about 2 per cent from Tuesday.

PROVINCIAL INCREASE DROPS BELOW 200

Ontario confirmed 184 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, the lowest daily increase since Sept. 10.

Another 14 deaths were also recorded.

The province's rolling seven-day average now stands at 268, down from 316 at this point last week.

With files from CTV Toronto.