Region sees rising COVID infection rates
Medical officer of health is ‘becoming concerned’ as disease indicators show virus is not under control
WATERLOO REGION — The latest COVID-19 numbers point to a region on the knife’s edge, based on disease indicators that aren’t getting better.
Public health over the weekend reported 94 new infections and three more deaths. The latest deaths are a woman in her 80s and two men in their 70s.
This puts COVID-19 on the rise. New daily cases have increased by one-third since bottoming out Feb. 18 just after stores, gyms and restaurants were allowed to reopen with limits.
“I am becoming concerned. We will have to watch our indicators closely,” medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang said Friday, warning that key indicators are no longer improving.
With new data reported Saturday and Sunday, the region is on track to finish February on the same pace as it began the month, with 49 new cases emerging daily on a seven-day average.
Though not the worst news, there is a difference. The virus was spreading less from person to person at the start of February.
The reproduction number — the number of people one infected person will spread the virus to — fell to 0.7 on Feb. 2. A reproduction number below one signals a virus that is under control.
By Feb. 24 the reproduction number grew to 1.1, showing greater spread from person to person and signalling a virus that is not under control.
New variants of the disease are seen to be more contagious and may increase the reproduction number. This region has now identified 100 variant cases, including 10 of the fastspreading kind first identified in the U.K.
Another indicator shows the percentage of COVID tests that are positive rose to 2.8 per cent by Feb. 23, the highest it has been since Feb. 4.
Hospitalizations are stable. February is on track to end with roughly the same number in hospital as at the start. That’s after hospitalizations fell by mid-month and surged again.
The latest data for Feb. 25 shows 34 in hospital including six in intensive care.
There are currently 23 active outbreaks. Six new outbreaks were declared Friday and Saturday at two manufacturing workplaces, two group homes, a place of worship, and a retirement home. They involve 16 cases in total.
Six other outbreaks ended Friday and Saturday. They involve 26 cases in total at a hospital, a school, two nursing homes, and two workplaces in construction and manufacturing.
Total cases have reached 10,702 since the pandemic began, with 10,049 recoveries, 410 active cases and 227 deaths.
Public health has been unable to update vaccination progress while a new provincial data system is implemented.