82 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Waterloo region Tuesday

There were 82 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Waterloo region on Tuesday by public health.

That broughtthe total so far in April to 302 and since the start of the pandemic to 12,270. Resolved cases rose by 42 to 11,625.

There were 386 active cases in the region on Tuesday with 20 people in hospital and six of those people in the intensive care unit.

There were no new deaths reported.

As well, public health said there were no active outbreaks in long-term care or retirement homes in the region.

The region reported there are now 584 cases of COVID-19 that have screened positive for a variant of concern, with 31 confirmed to be the B117 variant first detected in the U.K.

Waterloo school closes due to outbreaks

There were four outbreaks in schools with three separate outbreaks at Holy Rosary Catholic Elementary School in Waterloo. The school is temporarily closed this week after three classrooms were sent home to self isolate. Each outbreak had two cases each. At least one of the outbreaks is linked to students who ride a bus.

On its website, the school says the temporary closure is due to the "trending uptick in positive COVID-19 cases in the school, and a significant number of staff deemed high-risk contacts and therefore in self-isolation."

Students at Holy Rosary have moved to remote learning for the week, and will be off forspring break next week.

The other school outbreak is at St. John Catholic Elementary School in Kitchenerwith two cases.

13 active outbreaks

There were 13 active outbreaks, including the four outbreaks at schools. There are no outbreaks in long-term care or retirement homes.

The other outbreaks include:

• Two at hospitals: One at St. Mary's General Hospital and one at Cambridge Memorial Hospital.
• A daycare with two cases.
• One at University of Waterloo where there are 37 cases linked to social gatherings in early March.
• Two in manufacturing workplaces: One with seven cases and one with six cases.
• Two at construction sites, both with three cases.
• One at an optometrist office with three cases.

14% of region vaccinated with first dose

The region's vaccination distribution task force reported98,926 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine havebeen administered in the region and 14.17 per cent of the region's population havereceived their first dose.

In total, 15,479 people have received both doses, or 2.63 per cent of the population.

There was a dip in the number of people vaccinated over the long weekend after a record high 3,640 doses were administered last Thursday. The weekend saw:

• Friday: 2,235 doses.
• Saturday: 2,791 doses.
• Sunday: 2,162 doses.
• Monday: 2,479.