COVID-19 outbreak broke out at church in Kitchener, kindergarten in Elmira

Waterloo Public Health announced a new outbreak of COVID-19 at a church in Kitchener and a nursery in Elmira on Thursday.

There are five cases linked to the outbreak at the Apostolic Faith Mission, making it well above the threshold for the Waterloo Department of Public Health to name the location of the outbreak.

There are two cases linked to the outbreak at Jacob Hespeler Nursery in Elmira – all daycares or schools with outbreaks were named.

However, there are still 12 students in the area, as others at an unnamed gym and Blair Road Public School have ended.

Waterloo Public Health also reported a new COVID-19-related death for the second day in a row, bringing the death toll in the region to 307.

“Today we report a death in our community related to COVID-19,” said Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health. “That person was a man in his 50s.”

Wednesday’s death involved a man in his 70s.

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COVID-19 vaccinations started for children aged 5 to 11 in Toronto

“I would like to express my deep sympathies to the families and loved ones of these individuals,” Wang said.

Waterloo Public Health said 24 more tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of COVID-19 infections in the region to 20,784 cases.

This puts the seven-day average of new cases in the region at 30.7. A week ago, that number was 29.3.

Another 24 people have also been cleared of the virus, bringing the total number of cases resolved in the region to 20,245.

This leaves the region with 230 active COVID-19 cases, less than the two reported on Wednesday.

Waterloo Public Health reports that 916,788 COVID-19 vaccinations have now been administered in the region, 1,425 more than reported Wednesday.

A large portion of those appear to have been people who received the third dose as 17,600 residents have now done so, 1,138 more than what was announced 24 hours earlier.

There will be a moratorium on the third dose starting Friday as the focus shifts to immunizing children between the ages of 11 and 11.

Elsewhere, Ontario has reported 748 new COVID-19 cases, as numbers continue to grow weekly. The total number of provincial cases is now 614,270.

By comparison, last Thursday had 711 new cases and the previous Thursday was 642. All three Thursdays had a similar number of tests in the 30,000 range.

Of the 748 new cases recorded, data show 356 unvaccinated, 19 partially vaccinated, 329 fully vaccinated, and 44 with unknown vaccination status.

According to Thursday’s report, 77 cases were recorded in Toronto, 57 in Windsor-Essex, 55 in Simcoe Muskoka, 48 in Peel Region, 45 in Ottawa and 43 in York Region. All other local public health units reported fewer than 40 new cases in the provincial report.

The death toll in the province rose to 9,985 as four more deaths were reported.

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