2 more COVID-19 deaths reported in Waterloo Region, death toll reaches 297 | Globalnews.ca

Waterloo Public Health reported another two COVID-19-related deaths on Wednesday, lifting the death toll in the area up to 297.

“The individuals were a female in her 70s and a male in his 80s,” medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu Li Wang stated.

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

There have now been eight COVID-19-related deaths this month, including four over the past week.

For the third straight day, Waterloo Public Health reported 17 new positive tests for the coronavirus. This lifts the total number of cases to 19,481 while also dropping the rolling seven-day average number of new cases to 22.9.

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

In the last two days, the number of active cases has plummeted from 271 to 150 as the number of people cleared of COVID-19 dramatically increased.

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

The area is 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 reached out to Waterloo Public Health for further details of the outbreak.

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

According to the region’s vaccine task force, there have now been 850,288 vaccinations done in the area, which is 1,186 more than were reported on Tuesday.

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

This means that 70.9 per cent of the population have now received two jabs of COVID-19 vaccine, a number that rises to 82.23 per cent when you discount those who are ineligible.

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

It is the fewest confirmed cases in a 24-hour period since Aug. 17, when 348 new infections were recorded. Test positivity also fell below two per cent, also not seen since Aug. 11.

Of the 463 new cases recorded, the data showed 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’s report, 93 cases were recorded in Toronto, 54 in Ottawa, 48 in Windsor-Essex, 41 in Peel Region, 30 in 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 Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues

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