COVID-19 milestone represents ‘difficult year’

WATERLOO REGION — This week marks one year since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Waterloo Region.

“It’s a difficult milestone because it represents a difficult year,” associate medical officer of health Dr. Julie Emili said during Friday’s briefing.

Since then, 384,579 tests have been done, 10,904 residents tested positive and 232 died.

“But there’s hope too,” Emili said.

On Thursday, the second fixed vaccination clinic opened in Waterloo and more clinics are opening across the region in the coming weeks.

“There’s still a way to go and will take a concerted amount of effort from every member of our community,” Emili said. “But I am encouraged to see more hope on the horizon.”

Dr. Rob Chernish, a specialist physician in local hospitals, wonders about the greater toll of COVID-19 in the past year beyond what is reflected in the deaths directly contributed to the virus.

“I do worry very much about what has been lost along the way,” Chernish said.

“What we don’t know is who did we lose who just hid away from the medical world, didn’t want to come into the hospital.”

There are the people who

sought medical attention too late for cancer or a heart attack, or those who had their surgery delayed.

“We may know more as the months go on about those losses, but they’re going to be large — possibly comparable to the COVID group,” Chernish said.

Three more deaths were reported in the Friday update by public health: two men in their 80s and a woman in her 80s.

Another 34 cases were added to the total.

Active cases dropped by 19 to 372. Hospitalizations decreased by nine to 33, including seven people requiring intensive care. Outbreaks dropped by two to 27.

“Our indicators are still high, but stable at this time,” Emili said.

The weekly incident rate is between 55 and 60 per 100,000 people — a slight increase over last week.

Eleven cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, first found in the U.K., are confirmed, and another 124 cases screened positive for a variant.

Case and contact management was enhanced a few weeks ago in response to the appearance of variants of concern in the region, Emili said. All positive cases are managed as if they’re a variant of concern, which are more easily spread versions of the COVID-19 virus.

The threshold for determining high-risk close contacts has been lowered, and asymptomatic household contacts are also encouraged to stay home as much as possible.

“This means that more people may be required to self-isolate due to an exposure to COVID-19, but it also means that we will be able to better limit and control the spread of variants in our community,” Emili said.