4 COVID-related deaths reported in Waterloo region Wednesday

Public health reported four deaths in Waterloo region related to COVID-19 on Wednesday.

The four people were:

• A man in his 50s.
• A man in his 80s.
• A woman in her 80s.
• A woman in her 90s.

Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, the region's medical officer of health, said in a statement that she wished to "express my deep sympathy to the families of these individuals."

The deaths brought the total number of COVID-related fatalities in Waterloo region to 328 since March 2020.

The province reported 60 deaths of Ontarians with COVID-19 on Wednesday. The Ministry of Health said one of the deaths happened more than one month ago and was included in today's update after a data clean-up, while the other 59 occurred "over the last 11 days."

There were 131 people in Waterloo region's three hospitals with COVID-19. Hospital officials have said they're utilizing "non-traditional spaces" like hallways and day surgery recovery beds to treat the increased number of people being admitted. 

There were also 21 people in the intensive care unit, although the region notes people in the ICU may no longer be infectious but do require ongoing care.

The region reported 359 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, which is considered to be an underestimate because not everyone is eligible to be tested for the virus at this time.

There were 76 outbreaks in the region, of which 39 were at long-term care and retirement homes. (Note: The below graphic of active outbreaks has four pages of data).

There were also 28 outbreaks in congregate settings, including one with 53 cases at a shelter, and nine in hospitals.

The region's vaccination dashboard showed 77.36 per cent of all residents in the community have two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.