Local hospitals have accepted 37 out-of-region patients since start of 3rd wave

There are now 62 people in Waterloo region's hospitals, an increase of 11 cases over what was reported by public health on Wednesday.

There were also 24 people in the hospitals' intensive care units. These numbers include patients who have been brought in from outside the region.

On Thursday afternoon, area hospitals reported 37 patients have been brought in from other parts of the province.

As of 12 a.m. Thursday:

• St. Mary's General Hospital in Kitchener had 16 COVID-positive patients with nine in the ICU and seven in acute care. The hospital has had seven patients from outside the region.
• Grand River Hospital in Kitchener has 18 COVID-positive patients with 12 people in the ICU and six in other areas of the hospital. The hospital has had 18 patients transfer from outside the region.
• Cambridge Memorial Hospital has 22 COVID-positive patients with 12 people in the ICU and 10 in acute care. The hospital has had 12 patients transfer from outside the region.

Lee Fairclough, president of St. Mary's General, said in a news release that all three hospitals "continue to monitor our capacity day-to-day."

"Currently, within our region, we are continuing to take action to maximize capacity and preserve resources needed to care for patients, including maximizing all in-hospital capacity," Fairclough said.

The news release from area hospitals said they are also preparing in case staff need to be sent to support "other environments, as when we deployed staff to long-term care in wave one."

83 new cases

Public health reported 83 new cases of COVID-19 in the region on Thursday. That brought the total in April to 1,637 and since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 to 13,587. Of those, 12,739 have been marked as resolved.

There was one new death reported on Thursday of a person with the illness. The total number of COVID-related deaths in the region was 249.

There were 583 active cases as of Thursday.

Ontario reported another 3,682 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 40 more deaths linked to the illness on Thursday.

28 active outbreaks

There were 28 active outbreaks in the region including one at a long-term care home where two staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.

There were seven outbreaks in schools, including:

• Two outbreaks at École secondaire catholique Père-René-de-Galinée in Cambridge. Each outbreak has two cases.
• St. Bernadette Catholic School in Kitchener with three cases.
• St. Anne Catholic Elementary School in Cambridge with three cases.
• St. John's Kilmarnock School in Breslau with two cases.
• Queensmount Public School in Kitchener with two cases.
• Sunnyside Public School in Kitchener with two cases.

There were 16 workplace outbreaks. They included: 

• Three in manufacturing workplaces: One with nine cases, one with three cases and one with two cases.
• Two at food processors: One with 15 cases and one with six cases.
• Two at construction workplaces: One with five cases, one with four cases.
• Two at trades business: One with three cases, one with two cases.
• Two at retail stores: One with six cases, one with five cases.
• Two at automobile sales and service businesses with three cases at each.
• Two in general office settings with two cases each.
• One at a financial institution with three cases.

The other outbreaks included:

• Three in congregate settings: One with four cases, two with a single case each.
• One at St. Mary's General Hospital.