Coronavirus numbers are stabilizing in the region
The number of coronavirus cases in Waterloo Region continues to stabilize, with daily increases in the low single-digits. The total was 1,095 as of Wednesday, with the 113 fatalities unchanged this week.
“This stabilization is the result of residents following public health measures. Where we go from here will largely depend on the actions all of us take as a community. We need to continue to practice physical distancing whenever we leave our homes. Wear a non-medical mask when in close proximity with others. We need to wash our hands often, we need to spend time only with our household contacts,” said acting medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang at the region’s video briefing on Wednesday.
Some 775 of the cases (71 per cent) have been deemed resolved. Of the 207 active cases, 86 per cent of those afflicted are self-isolating at home, while 13 per cent are in hospital. Of those who have succumbed to the virus, 82
per cent were residents of long-term care or retirement homes.
While the number of cases has been dropping here, the regional government will be following the province’s lead in extending the state of emergency in response to COVID-19. That’s in conjunction with the next stage of reopening the economy.
“We would use the province moving to the next stage (stage two) as the trigger to reopening to the public,” explained chief administrative officer Mike Murray, noting the province estimates two to four weeks at each stage.
Regional Chair Karen Redman explained that the region is looking to reopen municipal administrative facilities at this point.
“We are working hard on back to business plans… to the public and employees earlier in mid-June.”
A majority of services have continued running under restrictions. Redman says they hope to reemploy employees that are laid off and put in measures to ensure the safety of both staff and residents. Some of these steps include the installation of plexiglass shields, and requiring appointments for dealing with municipal staff.
The Region of Waterloo Public Health team has now decided to break down the number of cases per community by the actual number instead of by rate. The new numbers show there have been 53 cases of COVID-19 in Woolwich Township, 35 of them related to institutional outbreaks. In Wellesley Township, there have been just seven cases.
In Elmira, two cases of COVID-19 have been discovered at the Foodland store. Sobeys Inc. this week said the first case was identified on May 14, with the second reported two days later. According to Public Health, Private businesses are not required to release information regarding the virus’s positive cases.
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (WDG) Public Health continues to keep their numbers low, with only a total of 370 to date. Of those cases, 241 have been resolved showing a recovery rate of 65%. There have been 35 deaths in the catchment area.
The Ministry of Health reports 26,483 cases of the novel coronavirus in Ontario, an increase of 1.1 per cent over the previous day. There have been 2,155 deaths attributed to the virus, representing a mortality rate of 8.1 per cent. The ministry reports 20,372 cases (76.9 per cent) have been resolved.
The latest numbers from Health Canada show 86,928 confirmed cases of COVID-19 nationwide, with 6,671 related deaths, a mortality rate of 7.7 per cent.