A COVID-19 outbreak involving a congregate setting in Kitchener and Waterloo has quickly grown to be connected to 76 people, according to Waterloo Public Health.
Associate medical officer of health Dr. Julie Emili said Friday that the congregate setting involved locations in the two cities “where people who are experiencing homelessness or precariously housed are served.”
She said the Delta variant is believed to be the cause of the quick-growing outbreak, which was first declared on June 2
“We have seen a large number of cases over a short period of time when compared to other outbreaks,” Emili said on Friday, when the case count was reported to be 47.
She explained that while there are just a handful of outbreaks in the community at the moment, the appearance of the Delta variant could lead to others.
“The majority of our daily case counts are not linked to this outbreak, which means we have ongoing spread in our community and there is a potential to see outbreaks like this one in other settings due to the Delta variant,” Emili said.
The region has been declared one of seven hotspots for the province, as case counts have been rising rapidly in Waterloo Region prior to Monday.
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Waterloo Public Health reported 43 new positive tests for the coronavirus on Monday, which is half of what was reported on Sunday.
There have now been 16,664 COVID-19 cases in Waterloo Region since the pandemic began last March.
Another 34 people were also cleared of the virus, lifting the total number of resolved cases in the area to 15,924.
No new COVID-19-related deaths were reported on Monday, leaving the death toll in the area at 258, including two in June.
There has also been a quick rise in the number of people in area hospitals which was also attributed to the Delta variant as it has grown to 38 including 22 who are in intensive care.
Elsewhere, Ontario reported 447 new COVID-19 cases on Monday. The provincial total now stands at 540,130.
According to Monday’s report, 110 cases were recorded in Toronto, 61 in Peel Region, and 39 in Porcupine Health Unit.
All other local public health units reported fewer than 30 new cases in the provincial report.
The death toll in the province has risen to 8,961 as four more deaths were recorded.
— With files from Global News’ Jess Patton
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