Waterloo Region adds 61 new COVID-19 cases Monday as hospitalizations, outbreaks rise

Waterloo -

Health officials in Waterloo Region logged 61 new COVID-19 infections Monday, continuing the trend of an alarming spike in cases and hospitalizations in the community.

The new batch of cases brings the region's total caseload since the pandemic began to 17,089, with 16,275 considered resolved, 530 considered active and 260 deaths.

One new COVID-19-related death was confirmed this past weekend, a woman in her 90s living in a long-term care home. The woman had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to health officials.

Hospitalizations also rose in the past 24 hours, up by three to 57. Of those, 22 people are receiving care in area intensive care units.

There are now 11 active COVID-19 outbreaks in Waterloo Region, the bulk of which are workplace or facility outbreaks. Monday, health officials announced an outbreak at Grand River Hospital's adult inpatient mental health unit at the KW campus.

DELTA VARIANT TAKING HOLD

Three more COVID-19 cases were confirmed as variants of concern in Monday's update, bringing the total number of variant cases to 3,565.

Confirmed cases of the Delta variant continue to grow in Waterloo Region, with health officials confirming late last week that Delta is now the dominant strain in the community.

Waterloo Region's variant breakdown is as follows:

• 3,069 are the Alpha variant, first identified in the United Kingdom and originally known as B.1.1.7
• 11 are 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
• 115 are the Delta variant, first found in India and previous called B.1.617
• 309 cases have had a mutation detected, but have not yet had a variant strain confirmed

VACCINE PUSH CONTINUES

Meanwhile, health partners across Waterloo Region administered another 5,730 COVID-19 vaccine doses on Sunday. More than 466,994 jabs have been put in arms since the vaccine rollout began.

More than 74.9 per cent of adults have now received at least one dose, while 18.98 per cent of residents 18 and older are fully vaccinated.

PROVINCE-WIDE SNAPSHOT

Across Ontario, health officials logged the lowest daily increase in COVID-19 infections since mid-September, adding 270 cases.

The province also recorded three more deaths in the past day, bringing the total death toll to 9,022.

Outside of Waterloo Region, most of the new cases were in Peel, with 42, and Toronto with 47.

Monday’s new infections bring Ontario’s total number of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases to 542,469, including deaths and recoveries.

With files from CTV Toronto.