Still a red zone, as COVID-19 cases dip to 66 in Waterloo region Friday

The number of new cases of COVID-19 in Waterloo region dipped to 66 on Friday, public health reported.

That brings the total in December to 302 and 3,888since March. Of all the cases in the region, 3,183 have been marked as resolved.

Public health reported 573 active cases in the region with 30 people in hospital and nine of those people in the intensive care unit. Grand River Hospital and St. Mary's General Hospital confirmed they have paused or scaled back surgeries in the ICU during the past week due to the high number of patients both with and without COVID-19.

The number of people in the region who have died after contracting the coronavirus remained at 126 on Friday.

Ontario reported another 1,780 cases of COVID-19 and 25 more deaths from the illness on Friday.

Red zone

Waterloo region will remain in the "red zone" of the province's COVID-19 framework and will not be moved into lockdown in the coming days, the province confirmed Friday.

• What Red zone rules mean for Waterloo region

During a media briefing on Friday. the region's medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang said while there are no specific requirements to be met to go into lockdown, in general it happens if cases in a community continue to worsen even after stricter measures are put into place.

Wang asked people in the regionto limit social interactions to only those people in immediate households and to stay home unless foressential trips, such as to work, the grocery store or doctor appointments.

"It is a huge concern," Wang said of the high number of cases being reported in the region in recent weeks, but also noted going into lockdown would further restrict businesses. "It is a balance. We recognize our numbers are spiking."

The region has asked for additional help from the provincial and federal government for contact tracing, Wang said.

School outbreaks

As of midday Friday, there werefour outbreaks at local schools.

• Elmira District Secondary School where there are two COVID-19 cases among students.
• Clemens Mill Public School in Cambridge.
• William G. Davis Public School in Cambridge.
• St. Bernadette Catholic Elementary School in Kitchener.

Each of those schools has two cases.

An earlier outbreak at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Elementary School in Kitchener was declared over on Thursday.

Waterloo Region District School Board said late Friday that Linwood Public School would be closed as a precautionary measure effective Monday Dec. 7 due to community transmission in the area.

25 active outbreaks

Outside thefour outbreaks at schools in theregion, there are 20 active outbreaks. Two are at long-term care homes. One outbreak is in two staff members while the other outbreaks is in a single staff member.

The outbreak at Village Manor in St. Jacobs continues, with a total of 32cases: 12in staff members and 20 in people who live atthe assisted living facility. One person's death has been linked to thatoutbreak.

Two hospitals in the region have outbreaks: One is on the 5S medicine unit at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener and the other is onthe wing B level 4 medicine unit of Cambridge Memorial Hospital.

The outbreak at aCambridge fire hall has risen to three cases.

Other outbreaks include:

• Twoat a congregate settings with one case at each.
• One at a child care centre with two cases.
• Two are atindustrial equipment sales businesses: One with nine cases and one with six cases.
• Two at a food and beverage business: One with three cases and one with two cases.
• Two at manufacturing workplaces: One withthree cases, one with two cases.
• One at a construction workplace with two cases.
• One at a trades business with three cases.
• One at an automobile sales business with three cases.
• One at a food processing workplace with 11 cases.
• One that is related to an ice skating class with three cases.
• One at a racquet sports facility with 24 cases.

Waterloo region health officials donot namespecific workplaces with outbreaks unless there is an associated risk to the general public who may have been at the location, such as in a restaurant or retail outlet where contact tracing cannot be done.

Tickets issued

In a media briefing on Friday, regional Chair Karen Redmannoted there were provincial enforcement officers in the region until Nov. 28.

She said the educational and enforcement campaign had 30 officers in the region. They made nearly500 visits to businesses and 115 businesses were found to have contraventions of the provincial rules surrounding COVID-19.

Three tickets were issued to a sports and fitness business, an auto retailer and a restaurant. There were also five orders to comply issued under the Occupational Health and Safety Act

As well, Redman said,42 businesses wereflagged as requiring a follow-up visit.

Local bylaw officials also issued a number of tickets over the last three weeks.

Waterloo bylaw issued three tickets to people in private residences for exceeding gathering limits and Kitchener bylaw issued one similar ticket. The tickets are for $880.

As well, regional bylaw officials issued two ticketsunder the regional mask bylaw. Both were at apartment building where people weren't wearing masks in common areas and they were fines of$200 each.