1 death, 31 new COVID-19 cases reported in Waterloo region Thursday

There was one new COVID-related death reported in Waterloo region on Thursday and 31 new cases.

The death of a man in his 60s brings the total number of COVID-19 related fatalities in the community to 308.

There were 239 active cases. As well, there were 11 people infectious with COVID-19 in the region's three hospitals. There were also six people in the intensive care unit. The region says people in the ICU may no longer be infectious with the virus, but require ongoing care.

10 outbreaks 

There were 10 active outbreaks in the region.

The most recent one was declared Thursday afternoon in a cohort at Lester B. Pearson Public School in Waterloo. At least two cases have been linked to that outbreak.

There were three other outbreaks in schools, which were:

• Southridge Public School in Kitchener with four cases.
• Cedar Creek Public School in Ayr with two cases.
• Blessed Sacrament Catholic Elementary School has 20 cases. The school is currently closed to in-person learning and the school board says it expects students will be able to return to the classroom on Dec. 6.

The other outbreaks were:

• A construction workplace with three cases.
• A retail store with three cases.
• A chiropractic office with three cases.
• A transportation workplace with three cases.
• Jacob Hespeler Child Care Riverside with two cases.
• A manufacturing workplace with two cases.

The region's vaccination dashboard showed 75 per cent of the entire population in the region have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Children aged five to 11 became eligible for the vaccine last month and the region began administering doses on Friday. As of Thursday's update, 16 per cent of children in that age group had received their first dose of the vaccine. Meanwhile, 81 per cent of children aged 12 to 17 have received two doses.

Children aged four and under are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine.