Waterloo region's COVID-19 case trend is good, but there's still work to do, health official says

Region of Waterloo Public Health reported 119 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday.

That brings the total so far in January to 2,745 and since last March to 8,821.

One additional person with the illness died, bringing the total number of deaths linked to COVID-19 to 185.

There were 866 active cases in the region with 39 people in hospital and 13 of those people were in the intensive care unit. The number of people in hospital includes people who have been brought to the area from outside the region for care.

Ontario reported 2,662 cases of COVID-19 and 87 more deaths linked to the illness on Friday.

Case numbers 'still quite high'

Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, the region's medical officer of health, says the overall trend of the last two weeks is a good sign.

"We are starting to see new cases slow and move in the right direction, but oursituation remains serious and the second wave has impacted our community significantly," she said during a media briefing Friday. "While we are seeing improvement, our numbers are still quite high."

She urged people to only leave their homes for essential purposes that includes going to work, getting groceries or going for medical appointments and to limit close contact with other people.

"There is still much to be done. We are not on the other side of the second wave yet," Wang said, noting continued improvement in case numbers depends on members of community. "I encourage us to support one another."

43active outbreaks

There are 43 active outbreaks in the region with 20in long-term care and retirement homes.

One large outbreak is Cambridge Country Manor, which has seen 60 cases in people who live there, 70in staff members and sixdeaths associated with the outbreak.

Some people were moved out of the home to Cambridge Memorial Hospital early in the outbreak. The hospital reports those people will start to be moved back to Cambridge Country Manor and hospital staff who were moved from the hospital to work in the home are now returning to work at the hospital.

The other outbreaks are:

• Five in congregate settings: One with 19 cases, one with 18 cases, one with 10 cases, one with four cases and one with three cases.
• Four at hospitals: Two at Grand River Hospital and two at St. Mary's General Hospital.
• Four at manufacturing workplaces: One with 26 cases, one with 14 cases, one with five cases and one with two cases.
• Two at offices: One with six cases, one with three.
• One at Conestoga Meats where there are 161 cases.
• One at a child care centre with nine cases.
• One at a retail store with four cases.
• One at Region of Waterloo Paramedics with three cases.
• One at an automobile sales and service workplace with three cases.
• One at a Waterloo Region District School Board program with three cases.
• One at a financial institution with two cases.