Waterloo Public Health reported an additional 673 positive tests for the coronavirus on Friday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the area to 30,023.
The seven-day moving average number of new daily cases now stands at 578.1.
Read more:
Lots of open COVID-19 vaccination appointments in the Waterloo region for 5-11 year olds
A total of 13,598 COVID-19 tests were also conducted in the area over the past week as the region continues to feel the effects of the Omicron variant.
For the second day in a row, no COVID-19-related deaths were reported in the area, leaving the death toll at 317, including four victims this month.
Another 232 people were also released from the virus, bringing the total number of resolved cases in the area to 24,789.
This leaves the area with 4,720 active COVID-19 cases, a new record for the region.
Those cases include 69 people who are in area hospitals as a result of the virus, including nine patients in need of intensive care.
Waterloo Public Health announced 10 new COVID-19 outbreaks, bringing the total number in the area to 39. This includes five new ones in long-term care homes, four in group settings and one at Cambridge Memorial Hospital.
Waterloo Public Health reports that there have now been 1,126,987 COVID-19 vaccines in the area, 8,854 more than it announced Thursday.
As has been the case recently, a large portion of them were people who received a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, as 186,823 have now, which is 8,001 more than 24 hours earlier.
Read more:
Ontario reports record 2,472 people with COVID in hospital, 11,899 new cases
Elsewhere, Ontario reported the highest number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients since the start of the pandemic at 2,472 as the province continues to grapple with the Omicron wave.
The province also reported 11,899 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday. The total number of provincial cases now stands at 853,270.
In the past three days, there were 13,339 new infections on Thursday, 11,582 reported on Wednesday, and 11,352 new cases on Tuesday. However, due to recent changes in eligibility for testing, the province cautions that the counts are an underestimate of the true spread of the virus in the community.
For regional breakdown, 2405 cases were recorded in Toronto, 1,745 in the Peel region, 965 in the York region, 742 in Halton, 656 in Ottawa, and 508 in Simcoe-Muskoka. All other local public health units reported fewer than 500 new cases in the provincial report.
The number of deaths in the province has risen to 10,315 as 43 more deaths related to the virus were added. Authorities noted that 42 of the deaths occurred within 10 days.
– with files from Gabby Rodrigues of Global News
See link »
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Reference-globalnews.ca