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COVID-19 outbreak declared over at Kitchener home where 51 people died

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After 91 days, the COVID-19 outbreak at Forest Height Long-Term Care was declared over on Tuesday morning, according to Waterloo Public Health.

The Kitchener nursing home saw 51 resident die from the novel coronavirus during the outbreak which was first declared on April 1.

Read more: Kitchener hospital put in charge of nursing home with 51 COVID-19-related deaths

On Friday, it was announced that four staff members at the home had tested positive for the coronavirus but the region’s top doctor says that is not a cause for concern.

“We’ve carefully assessed these cases and do not believe they are associated with the risk of ongoing spread,” Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, Region of Waterloo Public Health’s Acting Medical Officer of Health said. “All other recent tests on residents and staff have not identified further cases.”

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A total of 178 residents and 73 staff members tested positive for the virus over the duration of the outbreak, which eventually forced the province to hand over management of the facility to St. Mary’s General Hospital.

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The last remaining outbreak in the region is at Sunnyside Home in Kitchener which is currently going through its third outbreak.

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In its daily update, Waterloo Public Health says six more people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus raising the total number of cases in the region to 1,299.

The agency says there have now been 34,418 coronavirus tests conducted in area testing centres, an increase of 1,073 over Monday’s update.

It says that nine more people have been cleared of the virus in Waterloo region, raising the total number of resolved cases to 1,094.

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There are now 89 cases of COVID-19 remaining including 14 who are in area hospitals.

Ontario reported 157 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the provincial total to 35,068.

The death toll in the province has risen to 2,672, as seven more deaths were reported.

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