Region reports 537 new COVID-19 cases Friday

Region of Waterloo Public Health reported 537 new COVID-19 cases on Friday. 

There have been 25,976 cases in Waterloo Region since March, 2020.

Hospitalizations are up to 38 — with nine people in intensive care.

The active caseload has climbed to 3,272.

80.26 per cent of residents five and over in Waterloo Region are now fully vaccinated. Over 1.1 million doses have been administered to local residents.

43.85 per cent of children between 5 and 11 have received at least one dose.

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

• 7,371 cases have screened positive for variants of concern – 3,127 are the Alpha variant – 21 are linked to the Beta variant – 4,044 are linked to the Delta strain – 98 are linked to the Gamma variant – 81 are the Omicron variant 
• 22,272 resolved cases (86 per cent)
• No new deaths were reported Friday. The total death toll in the region is 313.
• Over 692,000 tests have been done 

There are 21 outbreaks in the region — nine of them are in schools:

• NEW Grand River Hospital – 6 North/South 
• NEW Congregate Setting 50 (2 cases)
• NEW St. Andrew’s Terrace LTC (3 staff cases, 2 resident cases)
• NEW Sunnyside Home LTC (6 staff cases)
• Golden Years LTC (1 staff case, 7 resident cases)
• Trinity Village LTC (4 staff cases)
• Bluevale Collegiate (2 cases)
•  Chartwell Westmount LTC (1 staff case, one resident)
• Private School 3 (2 cases)
• Sandhills Public School (2 cases)
• Resurrection Catholic School (3 cases)
• Waterloo Collegiate (2 cases)
• St. Mary’s High School – multiple cohorts (8 cases)
• Chicopee Hills Public School (8 cases)
• Grand River Hospital — Freeport UT2 North
• Congregate Setting 21 (3 cases)
• Chartwell Elmira LTC (3 cases in staff, one resident)
• Breslau Public School (2 cases)
• Jean Steckle Public School (7 cases)
• Private School 2 – multiple cohorts (5 cases)
• Lanark Heights LTC (10 cases in staff, 13 in residents, 1 death)

Meanwhile, the province reported 16,713 new cases Friday — Among the new cases reported 2,278 were unvaccinated, 647 partially vaccinated and 13,436 fully vaccinated. 352 cases were reported without vaccination status information. 

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

• 81 per cent of those 5 and over have been fully vaccinated
• 756,361 total cases
• 647,345 resolved cases
• 10,194 deaths (15 new)
• In hospital due to COVID – 236 unvaccinated – 42 partially vaccinated – 536 fully vaccinated. ICU data – 89 unvaccinated – 7 partially vaccinated – 47 fully vaccinated
• 75,093 tests completed Thursday — Over 21.25 million since January 15, 2020