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
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.