2 more COVID-19 deaths reported in Waterloo region, death toll reaches 297 | The Canadian News

The Waterloo Department of Public Health reported two other COVID-19-related deaths on Wednesday, bringing the death toll in the area to 297.

“The individuals were a 70-year-old woman and an 80-year-old man,” said Dr. Hsiu Li Wang, a medical health officer.

“I wish to express my condolences to the family and loved ones of each individual.”

This month there have been eight deaths related to COVID-19, including four in the past week.

For the third day in a row, Waterloo Public Health reported 17 new positive tests for the coronavirus. This brings the total number of cases to 19,481 and, at the same time, reduces the average number of new cases from seven days to 22.9.

Another 61 people have also been eliminated from the virus, bringing the total number of resolved cases in the region to 19,010.

In the past two days, the number of active cases has plummeted from 271 to 150 as the number of people without COVID-19 dramatically increased.

The number of people in area hospitals has risen from seven to 12 in the past two days, with six of those patients needing intensive care.

The area has up to nine active COVID-19 outbreaks after one was declared at Earl Horst Systems, which was connected to a wedding reception.

Global News has contacted Waterloo Public Health for more details on the outbreak.

The pace of new vaccines continues to slow as the number of people who need to be vaccinated continues to decline.

According to the region’s vaccines working group, there have been 850,288 vaccinations in the area, which is 1,186 more than was reported Tuesday.

The agency says 417,509 people have been fully vaccinated, which is 744 more than it reported 24 hours earlier.

This means that 70.9 percent of the population have received two shots of the COVID-19 vaccine, a number that rises to 82.23 percent when those ineligible are discounted.

Elsewhere, Ontario reported 463 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, the lowest daily case burden seen in five weeks. The total number of provincial cases now stands at 581,231.

It is the fewest confirmed cases in a 24-hour period since August 17, when 348 new infections were recorded. The positivity of the test also fell below two percent, which had also not been seen since Aug. 11.

Of the 463 new cases registered, the data showed that 278 were in unvaccinated people, 21 in partially vaccinated people, 131 in fully vaccinated people, and for 33 people the vaccination status was unknown.

According to Wednesday report, 93 cases were registered in Toronto, 54 in Ottawa, 48 in Windsor-Essex, 41 in the Peel region, 30 in the York region and 27 in Hamilton.

All other local public health units reported fewer than 25 new cases in the provincial report.

—With files from Gabby Rodrigues of Global News

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