4 new COVID-related deaths reported in Waterloo region this week

There were four more COVID-related deaths reported in Waterloo region in the past week, public health reported Friday.

It brings the total number of deaths from the virus to 436.

There were 341 new cases reported since July 22,although not everyone is eligible to be tested for COVID-19.

The number of outbreaks in high-risk settings fell by six to 27. There were:

• 18 outbreaks in long-term care and retirement homes.
• Six outbreaks in congregate settings.
• Three outbreaks in hospitals two at St. Mary's General Hospital and one at Grand River Hospital.

There were 45 people listed as being in the region's three hospitals with COVID-19 and five people were in the intensive care unit, either infectious with the virus or recovering from it.

Wastewater data showed for the second week in a row, virus signals appearto be plateauing "at an elevated level," the regional dashboard said.

"The wastewater signal is now dominated by the Omicronsubvariant BA.5," the dashboard's Friday update said.

The region's vaccine dashboard showed:

• 84.7 per cent of all regional residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
• 82 per cent have received two doses.
• 49.5 per cent have received three doses.
• 10.9 per cent have received four doses.