Region reports 65 new COVID cases Saturday

Region of Waterloo Public Health reported 65 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, putting the overall total at 16,535.

There are 33 people in a local hospital being treated for the virus — 20 are in intensive care.

The active caseload is up to 426.

Over 385,000 residents of Waterloo Region (18+) have received at least one dose of the vaccine, which works out to over 70 per cent. 40,000 plus residents (8.58 per cent) have been fully vaccinated.

Here are some other updates from the region's dashboard: 

• 3,422 cases have screened positive for variants of concern – 3,025 are the Alpha variant (first found in U.K.) – eight are linked to the Beta variant (first detected in South Africa) – 20 are linked to the Delta strain (first located in India) – 60 are linked to the Gamma variant (first found in Brazil) – 309 cases where a mutation has been detected
• The local death toll remains at 258. No new deaths were reported Saturday
• 15,842 resolved cases (96 per cent)
• Over 501,900 tests have been done

There are currently four active outbreaks in the region:

• General office setting 13 (5 cases)
• Trillium Bilingual Montessori School Child Care (2 cases)
• Waterloo Regional Police – Central Division (2 cases)
• Congregate setting 42 – multiple locations (56 cases)

Meantime, the province reported 502 cases on Saturday.

The rest of the provincial COVID-19 totals are posted below:

• 1.66 million residents fully vaccinated — 11.02 million doses have been administered
• 539,153 total cases
• 524,326 resolved cases
• 447 people are in hospital – 422 are in intensive care – 277 are on a ventilator
• 8,950 deaths (15 new)
• 24,099 tests completed Friday — 15.53 million since January 15, 2020