Waterloo Region logs 23 new COVID-19 cases Friday; positivity rate continues to climb

Waterloo -

The Region of Waterloo reported 23 new COVID-19 cases in Friday's update as the test positivity rate continues to rise.

Health officials in the region have now logged 19,029 COVID-19 cases to date. The total number of cases only increased by 21 due to a data cleanup.

The 19,029 cases include 18,565 resolved infections, 170 active cases and 290 deaths.

Hospitalizations increased by two in the past 24 hours, up to seven. The number of people receiving treatment in area intensive care units also rose by one, up to six.

One COVID-19 outbreak was declared resolved in Friday's report. There are now six active outbreaks across the region.

Since the pandemic began, health partners have processed 572,319 COVID-19 tests.

As of Friday, the region's seven-day average positivity rate sits at 2.8 per cent. On Tuesday, that number are 2.6 per cent and one week ago the positivity rate was 2.1 per cent.

The reproductive rate of the virus sits at 1.1.

Another eight infections were confirmed as variant of concern cases on Friday, with 5,077 variant cases now logged in Waterloo Region.

The region's variant breakdown is as follows:

• 3,127 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
• 98 are the Gamma variant, initially discovered in Brazil and labelled as P.1
• 1,569 are the Delta variant, first found in India and previously called B.1.617
• 262 cases have had a mutation detected, but have not yet had a variant strain confirmed

Meanwhile, health officials in the region administered 1,591 COVID-19 vaccine doses on Thursday. Since the vaccine rollout launched, 826,507 jabs have been put into the arms of area residents.

More than 79.5 per cent of residents 12 and older are fully vaccinated, and 86.25 per cent of the eligible population has received at least one dose.

Among Waterloo Region's entire population, 68.51 per cent are fully vaccinated and 74.27 per cent have received at least one dose.

Across Ontario, 807 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Friday, marking the second straight day with case counts of more than 800.

Among the latest cases, 628 involved people who are either unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown. The remaining 179 infections involved people who are fully vaccinated.

The province has now confirmed 9,536 COVID-19-related deaths and 567,878 cases since the pandemic began.

With files from CTV Toronto.