Waterloo Region adds 18 COVID-19 cases Thursday as ICU admissions increase
Health officials in Waterloo Region are reporting 18 more COVID-19 cases on Thursday as intensive care unit admissions rise.
The latest cases – 17 are linked to Wednesday and one is from a previous reporting period – bring the region's total to 18,241, including 17,806 resolved cases and 281 deaths.
Active cases declined by five in the past 24 hours, now down to 144.
Meanwhile, hospitalizations and intensive care admissions rose in Thursday's report. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 is 21, up by two. Five more people are receiving treatment in area intensive care units, up to 17.
Here's how hospitalizations break down between hospitals in Waterloo-Wellington:
- St. Mary's General Hospital: two in ICU, four in acute care
- Cambridge Memorial Hospital: three in ICU, one in acute care
- Grand River Hospital: five in ICU, two in acute care
- Guelph General Hospital: one in acute care
Hospital officials said the numbers show patients who are actively infectious with COVID-19. Other patients remain in hospital receiving treatment, but are no longer COVID-19-positive.
“The number of COVID-positive patients in our hospitals has started to decrease for the first time in recent memory. These numbers had been lagging behind the decrease in cases, which was to be expected. Other indicators, such as the amount of COVID-19 detected in our region’s wastewater, also appear to be trending in the right direction," St. Mary's Hospital president Lee Fairclough said in a news release. “Vaccinations have played a huge role in improving our situation in Waterloo Region. However, we do still see evidence of how transmissible this virus is, including through recent outbreaks in hospitals and other environments. We must continue to be diligent with masking and distancing as we move through Stage 3, until more members of our community are fully vaccinated so we can beat the delta variant and maintain the ground that we’ve gained.”
One more active COVID-19 outbreak was declared in Waterloo Region in the past day. There are now 12 active outbreaks across the region.
Another 13 infections were confirmed as variant of concern cases in Thursday's update. Since the pandemic began, there have been 4,576 lab-confirmed variant cases logged in Waterloo Region.
The region's variant breakdown is as follows:
- 3,122 are the Alpha variant, first identified in the United Kingdom and originally known as B.1.1.7
- 21 are the Beta variant, originally detected in South Africa and previously referred to as B.1.315
- 96 are the Gamma variant, initially discovered in Brazil and labelled as P.1
- 1,079 are the Delta variant, first found in India and previously called B.1.617
- 258 cases have had a mutation detected, but have not yet had a variant strain confirmed
The region's vaccine rollout continues, with another 5,475 COVID-19 vaccine jabs into arms on Wednesday.
Health partners have now administered 720,842 doses since the vaccine rollout began.
More than 80.9 per cent of residents 12 and older have received at least one dose, while 61.83 per cent of the eligible population in Waterloo Region is fully vaccinated.
Province-wide, health officials reported 185 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths on Thursday.
Ontario's daily COVID-19 case count has remained below 200 for two weeks straight.
The seven-day average for the number of cases reported is 155. Last Thursday, that number was 154.
With files from CTV Toronto.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.