KITCHENER -- Health officials in Waterloo Region logged 41 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, while another large swatch of cases were confirmed as the Delta variant.

Tuesday's report brings the total number of cases since the pandemic began to 17,524, including 16,785 resolved infections, 262 deaths and 457 active cases.

DELTA VARIANT SURGES

Another 21 cases were confirmed as variants of concern on Tuesday, bringing the total number of variant cases to 3,798.

Health officials also classed another 20 cases as the Delta variant.

Waterloo Region's variant breakdown is as follows:

  • 3,077 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
  • 336 are the Delta variant, first found in India and previous called B.1.617
  • 313 cases have had a mutation detected, but have not yet had a variant strain confirmed

HOSPITALIZATIONS RISE

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 rose by four in the past 24 hours, now up to 56 people. Of those, 25 people are receiving care in area intensive care units.

There are now 19 active COVID-19 outbreaks in the region, with most in workplace or facility settings.

Meanwhile, health officials completed another 3,577 COVID-19 tests since Friday. More than 517,663 tests have been processed since the pandemic began.

Waterloo Region's positivity rate now sits at 5.8 per cent, down from 6.7 per cent on Friday.

The reproductive rate of the virus sits at 0.9.

VACCINATIONS CONTINUE TO RAMP UP

Health partners across Waterloo Region administered another 8,565 COVID-19 vaccine doses on Monday, bringing the total number of jabs in arms to 538,725.

More than 78 per cent of adults have now received at least one dose, while 32.16 per cent of residents 18 and older are now fully vaccinated.

PROVINCE-WIDE SNAPSHOT

Across Ontario, health officials logged 299 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, with a data review contributing to an overestimation, the province says.

The province's rolling seven-day average now stands at 278, down from 334 at this point last week.

Ontario has confirmed 544,713 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, including deaths and recoveries.

With files from CTV Toronto