27 COVID-19 cases confirmed in University of Waterloo residence outbreak

The outbreak declared in all University of Waterloo residences has now reached 27cases, the university said Wednesday.

The outbreak was declared by public health on Tuesday. All cases are linked to a COVID-19 cluster fromsocial gatherings held in Waterloo earlier this month. The cases include variants of concern though it isn't clear how many.

About 2,000 students living in residence are affected by the outbreak and have been told to stay in their dorms except to study, exercise and get food.

Nearby atWilfrid Laurier University,there are 14 confirmed cases on campus, according to the school's COVID-19 dashboard, which was last updated Monday. It's unclear how many of thesecases are linked to the reported cluster.

Region of Waterloo Public Health said Tuesday the cluster that formed following the social gatherings in early March has led to 85 confirmed cases total.

That includes cases that were part of the initial cluster and cases that were transmitted through secondary spread, a spokesperson for public health said in an email Tuesday.

In addition to the 85 confirmed cases, public health said it has identified another 75 high risk contacts and two probable cases.

The number of cases marks a jump from last week. As of last Friday, public health had confirmed 56 cases linked to the cluster and 52 high risk contacts.

Public health first announced the cluster March 18 and said some of the people who tested positive had connections to Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo.

At that time, officials had identified more than two dozen COVID-19 cases linked to gatherings held at three homes in Waterloo between March 4 and 7. Guests at the gatherings had spent long periods of time in close contact indoors without distancing or wearing masks, public health said.

As of Wednesday, there are 305 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.