Waterloo Region adds 26 new COVID-19 cases Saturday; active infections drop below 200
Health officials in Waterloo Region logged 26 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday as active infections dropped below 200.
The new cases bring the region's total caseload since the pandemic began to 18,150, including 17,664 resolved infections and 280 deaths.
Active cases in Waterloo Region dropped by 19 in the past day, now down to 197.
Hospitalizations also declined by three. There are now 23 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the region, with 13 of those receiving treatment in area intensive care units.
The number of active outbreaks remains unchanged, still sitting at 13.
Another seven COVID-19 infections were confirmed as variant of concern cases in Saturday's report, bringing the total number of variant cases to 4,401.
Waterloo Region's variant breakdown is as follows:
- 3,121 are the Alpha variant, first identified in the United Kingdom and originally known as B.1.1.7
- 15 are the Beta variant, originally detected in South Africa and previously referred to as B.1.315
- 62 are the Gamma variant, initially discovered in Brazil and labelled as P.1
- 903 are the Delta variant, first found in India and previously called B.1.617
- 300 cases have had a mutation detected, but have not yet had a variant strain confirmed
Meanwhile, health partners across Waterloo Region administered another 7,106 COVID-19 vaccine doses on Friday. That brings the total number of jabs put in arms since the vaccine rollout began to 694,416.
More than 80.3 per cent of residents 12 and older have received at least one dose, while more than 57 per cent of the eligible population is fully immunized.
Province-wide, health officials confirmed 176 new COVID-19 cases and three deaths in Saturday's update.
The latest cases bring Ontario’s lab-confirmed COVID-19 case total to 548,040, including 537,379 recoveries and 9,288 deaths.
The seven-day average for the number of new cases reported across the province is 151, down from 188 a week ago.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.