Region adds 29 new COVID cases Friday

Region of Waterloo Public Health added 29 new COVID-19 cases to its summary dashboard on Friday. That compares with 24 cases on Thursday.

There have been 19,534 cases in the region since March, 2020.

Ten people are receiving treatment for the virus in a local hospital — six are in intensive care.

The active caseload is down slightly to 170.

82 per cent of residents 12 and over are now fully vaccinated. Over 88 per cent of eligible residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, which works out to over 868,000 doses.

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

• 6,281 cases have screened positive for variants of concern – 3,127 are the Alpha variant (first found in U.K.) – 21 are linked to the Beta variant (first detected in South Africa) – 2,772 are linked to the Delta strain (first located in India) – 98 are linked to the Gamma variant (first found in Brazil) – 263 cases where a mutation has been detected 
• 19,063 resolved cases (98 per cent)
• The local death toll remains at 297. No new deaths were reported Friday
• Over 588,000 tests have been done

There are 12 active outbreaks in the region. Seven are in workplaces:

• NEW Manufacturing/industrial 43 (3 cases)
• Westvale Public School (3 cases)
• Construction 18 (2 cases)
• Earl Horst Systems – wedding reception (5 cases)
• St. Brigid Catholic School (2 cases)
• Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School (2 cases)
• Sports & Fitness (hockey-related) 3 (2 cases)
• Manufacturing/Industrial 42 (2 cases)
• Congregate setting 48 (1 case)
• St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School (2 cases)
• Construction 17 (2 cases)
• Manufacturing/industrial 41 (7 cases)

Meanwhile, the province reported 727 cases Friday — 447 were unvaccinated. 

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

• 80 per cent of those 12 and over have been fully vaccinated
• 582,635 total cases
• 567,200 resolved cases
• In hospital due to COVID – 122 unvaccinated – 9 partially vaccinated – 39 fully vaccinated. ICU data – 108 unvaccinated – 11 partially vaccinated – 11 fully vaccinated
• 9,688 deaths (11 new)
• 36,855 tests completed Thursday — Over 17.89 million since January 15, 2020