130 new COVID-19 cases reported in Waterloo region on Wednesday
CBC
Waterloo region saw 130 new cases of COVID-19 reported on Wednesday.
There were no new deaths reported.
There were 947 active cases. As well, there were 20 people in the region's three hospitals infectious with the virus, seven of which were in the intensive care unit. The region notes people in ICU may no longer be infectious with COVID-19, but do require ongoing care.
Waterloo region's medical officer of health said she understands people will want to gather for Christmas this Saturday and other holiday events. Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang said "no gathering is risk-free," but people can make them safer by keeping numbers small, ensuring good ventilation, wearing masks and keeping a physical distance from others.
She said the region has seen "a steep increase" in COVID-19 cases in the past week — largely due to the Omicron variant.
She likened the pandemic to a marathon and the current wave to a challenging part in that race. But, she noted, the region has made progress.
"We may not be at the finish line yet, but we are also not back at the beginning," Wang said.
"We also know what works best now against COVID-19 and its variants. Please do what you can to help protect yourself and others. It will be the best gift you can give this holiday season."
There were 15 active outbreaks in the region. One was at Lanark Heights long-term care home in Kitchener where there were 15 cases: Eight in staff members and seven "non-staff" cases. There was one death associated with this outbreak.
There were nine school outbreaks listed on the region's website:
An outbreak at St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Elementary School in Cambridge was declared over on Tuesday.
There were three other outbreaks reported by the Waterloo Region District School Board that were not listed on the region's dashboard:
Other outbreaks in the region were:
The region's vaccination dashboard showed 75.72 per cent of all residents in the region have two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
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