93 new COVID-19 cases reported in Waterloo region Friday

There were 93 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Waterloo region on Friday.

Of the new cases, 26 are at Cambridge Country Manor, a long-term care home. Cases among people living there shot up from four to 24 on Friday, while cases in staff went from two to eight.

"Whole home testing is occurring in that home. Health system partners have connected with the home to provide supports and ensure that appropriate outbreak and infection prevention and control measures, staffing and [personal protective equipment] are in place," the region's medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang said in a statement.

"We will continue to actively work with the home. We expect to see more test results in the next couple of days."

If not for the 26 cases at the long-term care home, the region would have had an increase of 67 new cases. The current seven-day rolling average of new cases in Waterloo region is 68.4.  

'Still firmly in the red'

The new cases bring the monthly total to 743 and the total since March to 4,329. Of those, 3,769 have been marked as resolved.

The number of deaths in the region remained at 131 on Friday.

The new numbers were released at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. During a media briefing earlier in the day, Dr. Wang said the region was still seeing high case numbers "and the situation overall continues to be serious and concerning."

"Overall, our status is still firmly in the red zone," she said.

The province confirmed the region would not be moving into the "grey" or lockdown zone on Friday, although it did announce the communities covered by Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health will move from "orange" to "red" as of Monday at 12:01 a.m.

10 tickets

Regional Chair Karen Redman said 10 tickets had been handed out in the past week:

• Four in Waterloo: Three to people in private residences for having too many people at a gathering and one to Sushi 99 for exceeding capacity.
• One in Kitchener to a person in a private residence for having too many people at a gathering.
• One by Region of Waterloo Public Health to L.A. Fitness for exceeding capacity.
• Four issued by Grand River Transit for people not wearing face coverings.

26 outbreaks

There are 26 active outbreaks in Waterloo region.

Five outbreaks are at long-term care or retirement homes. Three of the homes have a single case in staff members. There is the outbreak at Cambridge Country Manor where 24 residents and eight staff members have tested positive, and at Village of Winston Park Retirement Home in Waterloo where seven residents and four staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.

All three hospitals in the region have outbreaks: Grand River Hospital in Kitchener has two outbreaks, St. Mary's General Hospital in Kitchener has one outbreak and Cambridge Memorial Hospital has one outbreak.

A new outbreak was declared at the University of Waterloo involving two students. One student tested positive on Monday and public health later confirmed a second student had tested positive on Friday. Both individuals currently live in Claudette Millar Hall and that's why public health declared an outbreak in the student residence.

Other outbreaks include:

• One at a daycare centre with two cases.
• Three in congregate settings: Two with three cases and one with a single case.
• One at Sunnyside Supportive Housing with one case.
• One related to an ice skating class with four cases.
• One at a Cambridge Fire station with six cases.
• One at a construction workplace with two cases.
• One at a manufacturing workplace with six cases.
• One at a food processing workplace with two cases.
• One at a warehouse with eight cases.
• One at a trades workplace with six cases.

There are also four outbreaks in schools. There are two cases each at Monsignor Doyle Catholic Secondary School in Cambridge, Franklin Public School in Kitchener, Elmira District Secondary School and KidsAbility.