Waterloo Region reports 1 COVID-19 death, 16 more cases

KITCHENER -

Health officials in Waterloo Region have reported a death related to COVID-19 for the second straight day Wednesday, along with 16 new cases of this disease.

Associate Medical Officer of Health Dr. Julie Emili said the latest death is a man in his 70s. This brings the region's death toll to 305 since the pandemic began.

As of Wednesday's update, the region has reported 20,163 cases of COVID-19, including 19,730 recoveries. There are 127 active cases in the region.

There are eight people receiving treatment for COVID-19 in area hospitals, including two in the ICU.

Another 18 cases have screened positive for a variant of concern.

Here's a breakdown of the region's 6,796 lab-confirmed variant cases is as follows:

•  3,127 are the Alpha variant
•  21 are the Beta variant
•  98 are the Gamma variant
•  3,288 are the Delta variant
•  262 cases have had a mutation detected, but have not yet had a variant strain confirmed

There are eight active outbreaks in Waterloo Region.

Health partners have administered 897,205 COVID-19 doses to date. Of the eligible population over the age of 12, 91.10 per cent have received one dose and 86.86 per cent are fully vaccinated. A total of 10,832 second doses are needed to reach 90 per cent of eligible residents fully vaccinated.

As for the entire population of Waterloo Region, 78.45 per cent have received one dose and 75.66 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Ontario reported another 378 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, along with five deaths linked to the disease.

Officials also announced expanded eligibility for third doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

The seven-day average now sits at 379 new cases, up from 366 this time last week.

To date, Ontario has reported 601,086 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 588,107 recoveries and 9,886 deaths.

With files from CTV Toronto