131 new COVID-19 cases in Waterloo region over weekend

Region of Waterloo Public Health reported a total of 131 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend.

There were 80 new cases on Saturday and 51 on Sunday.

There are 475 active cases in the region as of Sunday, a drop by eight cases from the day before.

There hasbeen a total of 751 confirmed variant cases, 39 of which have been screened as the B117 variant first detected in the UK.

There are 18 people hospitalized with the infection, four of which are in the intensive care unit. There are no new COVID-related deaths.

The region's numbers come after Ontario reported 4,456 cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, a new record high in the province. There were 593 patients in the intensive care unit with the infection as of Saturday.

15 outbreaks

There are 15 outbreaks in the region, four of which are in schools including:

• One at Waterloo Collegiate Institute with two cases.
• One at St. Luke Catholic Elementary School with two cases.
• One at Holy Rosary Catholic Elementary School with two cases.
• One at the University of Waterloo with 38 cases linked to a larger cluster of cases in the region.

There are no outbreaks in long-term care or retirement homes in the region.

Other outbreaks include:

• One at YMCA Brigadoon with four cases.
• One at Elite Day Care with four cases.
• One at a congregate setting with one case.
• One at a food and beverage service with three cases.
• One in trades and related services with two cases.
• One at a food processing service with three cases.
• One at a place of worship with two cases.
• One at an optometrist's office with three cases.
• Two at construction sites: One with three cases and another with six.
• One at a manufacturing workplace with seven cases.

Pre-registration for Telus users

Public health is asking Telus users in the region who pre-registered for a COVID-19 vaccine and chose text notifications to register again.

The region said there were issues with notifications being blocked by Telus on Friday. Telus solved the issue once notified.

However, the region is asking Telus users who pre-registered and didn't receive notification to book an appointment to register again to make sure they're in the system.