Dr. Wang 'becoming concerned' about Waterloo region's COVID-19 trajectory

The region's medical officer of health saysCOVID-19 case trends in Waterloo region are worrisome.

"Our indicators are no longer improving," Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang said Friday morning during her regular media briefing."I am becoming concerned. We will have to watch our indicators closely."

Contact tracers are noticing a pattern, said Wang:people who test positive for the virus are having more close contact with those outside their households.

"I sense the effort to keep it relatively small," Wang said, noting most people say they're trying to keep to family or close friends. But that is still more than public health recommends, she said.

"Generally people are trying but what's important to emphasize is: No, we can't even go there, yet," Wang said. "We still have to behave as if we are still under a stay-at-home order."

71 new cases

Region of Waterloo Public Health reported 71 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday.

That broughtthe total number of people to have contracted the virus this month to 1,173 and since last March to 10,608.

There was also one additional COVID-related death reported on Friday, a man in his 50s. This broughtthe number of people who have died after contracting the virus to 224.

Public health reported active cases rose by 39 cases from Thursday to 396 on Friday. As well, there were 29 people in hospital, down three from Thursday, with five people in the intensive care unit, down from seven the day before.

There were also 22 active outbreaks including five in schools and six in long-term care and retirement homes.

Variant cases rise to 67

Wang said there are now 67 cases of COVID-19 that are variants of concern: seven are confirmed to be the B117 variant, first detected in the United Kingdom, while the region is awaiting the results of further testing on the other 60 cases.

"We continue to see a rise in the number of variant cases, which is not unexpected," Wang said.

She was asked about growing case numbers of variants in Thunder Bay, where the medical officer has suggested schools move back to online learning. Wang saidshe's not yet prepared to make that call in Waterloo region, but public healthwill need to watch the trends.

"I appreciate that people are feeling concerned about variant cases. Public healthmeasures work against variants of concern but we have to be more vigilant than ever before," Wang said, repeating advice she's given from very early on in the pandemic to avoid close contact with people and crowded areas, wash hands and wear a mask.

When asked if she sees a point in time in the coming months where there could bea return to normal, Wang said thatwould be when everyone is vaccinated.

"I know it's been a long road and i know it's been hard to not be with family and friends but we are in an extremely precarious time. In order to have the best chances of keeping our schools open and not reverting back to more significant restrictions, it is critical that we all limit our close contacts and stay at home to the extent possible," she said.

On Friday, the Region of Waterloo announced the location of two mass-immunization clinics; one in Cambridge and one in Waterloo the first of which will open in early March.

22 active outbreaks

There were 22 active outbreaks reported in the region, six in long-term care and retirement homes.

There are five outbreaks in schools, which include:

• St. John Catholic Elementary School in Kitchener with five cases.
• Monsignor Doyle Catholic Secondary School in Cambridge with four cases. This outbreak is linked to a variant of concern, public health has confirmed.
• St. Agnes Catholic Elementary School in Waterloo with three cases.
• Howard Robertson Public School in Kitchener with two cases.
• Pre-Ren-de-Galinehigh school in Waterloo with two cases.

The other outbreaks include:

• Three in congregate settings: One with 118 cases over multiple locations, one with 34 cases and one with 21 cases. There are no deaths linked to these outbreaks.
• Three in hospitals: One each at Cambridge Memorial Hospital, Grand River Hospital and St. Mary's General Hospital.
• One at Court at Laurelwood Retirement Residence with 11 cases in people living there and two cases in people working there. One death has been linked to this outbreak.
• One at a food processor with five cases.
• One at a manufacturing workplace with four cases.
• One at a construction workplace with two cases.
• One at a food and beverage services business with two cases.