5 new COVID-related deaths reported in Waterloo region Wednesday

Five deaths of people who had contracted COVID-19 were reported in Waterloo region on Wednesday afternoon.

The region's dashboard showed four of the individuals lived at the same long-term care home: Chartwell Westmount. The home has reporteda large outbreak. Sixty-sixresidents and 49who work there have tested positive for the virus. There are 12 deaths linked to the outbreak.

Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, the region's medical officer of health, said the people whose deaths were reported Wednesday included a man in his 50s, two men in their 80s, a woman in her 90s and a woman who was over 100.

"I wish to express my deep sympathy to the family and loved ones of each individual," Wang said in an emailed statement.

"While we have seen some improvement in our current trends, the increase in deaths is not unexpected. Hospitalizations, people requiring ICU care and sadly, deathsare lagging indicators that we see increase in the weeks following high case rates," she added.

The region reported 78 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total in January to 3,096. Since last March there have been9,172 cases and 8,322 have been marked as resolved.

There are 647 active cases in the region, a drop of 39 from Tuesday. There are 47 people in the hospital with 11 of those people in the intensive care unit.

Ontario reported 1,670 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday morning, the fewest on a single day since late November.

The morning's amalgamatedprovincial report of COVID-19 cases reflects statistics gathered from around the province on the previous day.The Region of Waterloo releases its newest data in the afternoon.

38 active outbreaks

There are 38 active outbreaks in Waterloo region including 17 at long-term care and retirement homes.

An outbreak at food processor Conestoga Meats remains at 161 cases.

The other outbreaks are:

• Four at congregate settings: One with 34 cases, one with 10 cases and two with four cases each.
• Three at manufacturing workplaces: One with 33 cases, one with five cases and one with two cases.
• Three in hospitals: Two at St. Mary's General Hospital and one at Grand River Hospital.
• Two in offices: One with six cases, one with three cases.
• Two at Waterloo Region District School Board programs: One with three cases and one with two cases. The board has not named the schools involved.
• One at a child care centre with nine cases.
• One at a trades business with five cases.
• One at a financial institution with four cases.
• One at a retail store with four cases.
• One at a warehouse with three cases.
• One at a construction workplace with three cases.