Waterloo Regional Police announced Monday that a COVID-19 outbreak has been declared right across the service after five employees tested positive for the coronavirus.
It said that Waterloo Public Health made the decision after the employees tested positive over a four-day period with three of those working out of headquarters on Maple Grove Road in Cambridge with the others working at North Division on Columbia Street in Waterloo.
Police did not specify whether with the virus were officers of civilian employees.
They said there have now been 27 people who worked for the service who have now tested positive for COVID-19 from across all detachments, a number that includes all employees.
A good portion of those have occurred in 2021 as the force announced on Jan. 6 that six officers and five other employees had tested positive since the pandemic began, with at least one of those coming the week of the announcement.
Police said they are working closely with Waterloo Public Health to make sure all those who may be considered a high-risk contact are contacted.
The force says residents do not need to take any action unless they are contacted by Waterloo Public Health.
It says that service delivery and regular response operations won’t be affected by the outbreak.