Stability in COVID-19 cases, but officials concerned about variants

THE NUMBER OF COVID-19 CASES remains high in Waterloo Region, but the numbers started to stabilize a couple of weeks into the province’s latest lockdown.

The region’s incidence rate has gone unchanged over the last week at around 100 cases per population of 100,000. That continues the trend of remaining better than the provincial average, which stands at 175 cases per 100,000.

At midweek, the number of active cases of COVID19 in the region was climbing, however, standing at 641. Most of the new cases are variants of concern, which are the predominant strain in Ontario and in Waterloo Region, public health officials said April 23 during the weekly pandemic briefing.

Lee Fairclough, president of St Mary’s General Hospital and the hospital lead for Waterloo-Wellington, the new variants found in the region – the P.1, also known as the Brazilian variant, and B.1.3.5.1 or South African variant – could rapidly overwhelm local ICUs and general hospital system.

“We know that this new variant spreads fast. That’s what’s happened provincially; we’re at this rate, because this variant spreads faster and so much more easily,” she said. “Even if it’s a few days of that, it can change so fast – that’s what we know with this variant.”

Regional Chair Karen Redman, alongside Fairclough and medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, encouraged people to seek out testing even if they are only displaying a single symptom, noting that the high rate of transmissibility could further overwhelm the hospital and ICU systems.

Currently, there are 70 individuals hospitalized. Officials are monitoring outbreaks at 28 locations.

“Reducing our mobility, staying home as much as possible only going out for essential purposes and reducing our close contacts are critical to slowing the spread of COVID-19. If you do develop any symptoms, have been exposed to a confirmed case, or have screened positive on our rapid test, please seek testing at one of our local testing centers. Testing and identifying positive cases is an essential strategy in our ability to limit the spread of COVID-19,” she said.

On the enforcement side, Redman said the region has carried out 25 new enforcement actions in the past week.

“The situation in Waterloo Region remains serious. Our hospitals and the

provincial health system are extremely strained. I feel the same frustration and recognize the anger that many of the community expressed when they see these unlawful gatherings,” she said of the need for enforcement against the high level of infractions and disregard for public health measures.

Overall, the region has seen 14,000 cases of COVID19 since the pandemic begin, with 13,086 cases (93.5 per cent) having been declared resolved. There have been 251 fatalities linked to the virus.

In Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, there were 528 active cases, down from 609 a week earlier.

That catchment area’s cumulative total was 6,874, of which 6,240 (90.8 per cent) have been resolved. There have been a total of 106 fatalities since the pandemic began, unchanged in the past few weeks.

The province continues to see growth in the total number of cases, with the tally now at 452,126, up some 28,000 in the past week.

There have been 7,964 deaths attributed to the virus, representing a mortality rate of 1.8 per cent. The ministry reports 404,248 cases (89.4 per cent) have been resolved.

The latest numbers from Health Canada show 84,312 active cases nationwide, down about 4,000 from a week earlier. The cumulative total of confirmed cases now stands at 1,194,989, with 24,065 related deaths, a mortality rate of two per cent.