Region reports 15 new COVID cases Friday

Editor's note: With numbers stabilizing, Region of Waterloo Public Health will be switching back to a Monday to Friday reporting model. It means there will be no more weekend updates as of October 16.

Region of Waterloo Public Health added 15 new COVID-19 cases to its summary dashboard on Friday. That compares with 14 cases on Thursday.

The overall total is now 19,890.

The active caseload is down to 106.

Nine people are being treated in a local hospital for the virus — three are in intensive care.

85 per cent of residents 12 and over are now fully vaccinated. 90 per cent of eligible residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, which works out to over 898,000 doses.

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

• 6,568 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) – 3,060 are linked to the Delta strain (first located in India) – 98 are linked to the Gamma variant (first found in Brazil) – 262 cases where a mutation has been detected 
• 19,481 resolved cases (98 per cent)
• There have been 300 COVID-related deaths in the region. No new deaths were reported Friday
• Over 609,000 tests have been done

There are six active outbreaks in the region:

• Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School (2 cases)
• Grand River Collegiate (2 cases)
• Parkway Public School (2 cases)
• Hespeler Public School (2 cases)
• Trinity Village Studios Retirement Home (3 cases in residents)
• Garderie Des Lutins Kitchener – childcare (3 cases)

Meanwhile, the province reported 496 new cases Friday — 280 were unvaccinated.

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

• 83 per cent of those 12 and over have been fully vaccinated
• 593,933 total cases
• 580,150 resolved cases
• In hospital due to COVID – 97 unvaccinated – 9 partially vaccinated – 37 fully vaccinated. ICU data – 81 unvaccinated – 7 partially vaccinated – 15 fully vaccinated
• 9,809 deaths
• 35,905 tests completed Thursday — Over 18.49 million since January 15, 2020