COVID-19 hospitalizations continue rise as region sees 'rapid growth' of outbreaks

It is "very, very likely" everyone will be exposed to the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the region's medical officer of health says.

But taking precautions, such as getting vaccinated, limiting social contact with people and wearing a mask, will "slow the spread down to give our health-care system a chance," Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang said Friday during a media briefing.

Waterloo region is still on the "ascending curve" of the current wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and it means hospitalizations and outbreaks are expected to rise, Wang said.

On Friday, public health reported 69 people were in the region's three hospitals with the virus, a rise of four people from the previous day. There were nine people in the intensive care unit, a rise of three cases from Thursday. The region notes people in the ICU may not be infectious with the virus but still require ongoing care.

There were no new deaths reported Friday.

The region reported 673 new COVID-19 cases on Friday; however, that number is considered to be an underestimate of cases because not everyone has access to testing to confirm whether they have the virus.

There were 39 active outbreaks on Friday — a rise of 10 from Thursday — with 22 of those outbreaks in long-term care homes.

There were 12 outbreaks in congregate settings and five outbreaks in hospitals: three at Grand River Hospital, one each at St. Mary's General Hospital and Cambridge Memorial Hospital.

The region's dashboard also no longer lists outbreaks in: Child care, post-secondary institutions, schools, facilities or workplaces.

Women who are pregnant can walk into any regionally run vaccination clinic to get a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

This comes as Wang says provincial numbers indicate pregnant women tend to be significantly less vaccinated than the general population.

"We all know, that expectant mothers are wanting to do everything that they can to protect their babies and maybe some of them were hesitant about taking the vaccine because they are pregnant," Wang said.

That's why it's important to keep them up-to-date on emerging evidence that the vaccine is safe, she said.

She added, with children's hospitals in the province reporting a rise in young children and even infants becoming ill with COVID-19, parents should know vaccines can protect an unborn child through antibodies generated after the pregnant individual gets vaccinated.