Waterloo Public Health says the region is seeing an increasing number of COVID-19 cases with 104 new positive tests reported over the weekend.
As of Monday, there were 183 active cases, which is an increase of 55 cases from the previous day. Nine people with the disease are being treated in the hospital with three of them in intensive care.
There are also nine active outbreaks in the region including two declared over the weekend — one at Southwood Secondary School and one at Chartwell Terrace on the Square Retirement Home.
In a news release on Monday, the agency said daily case counts have doubled in recent days, signalling a change in local transmission.
“This increase in COVID-19 cases was not unexpected, as people are having more social contact and spending more time indoors in the colder months,” said medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang.
“Through our case and contact investigations we are seeing clusters of cases amongst households, as well as from social events in private settings where precautions have been relaxed or are absent.”
Dr. Wang added that this serves as a reminder that the Delta variant will spread rapidly when given chance. She said getting vaccinated and continuing to practise public health precautions is still of “prime importance.”
Public health said individuals who are not immunized against COVID-19 continue to be the most affected by the virus.
There are an estimated 126,000 residents in Waterloo Region who are not yet vaccinated or not yet eligible.
The latest data from public health shows that 901,916 vaccinations have been given in the region, an increase of 2,889 over Friday’s number.
In addition, the agency says 447,647 area residents are now fully vaccinated. This means that 88.3 per cent of eligible residents are now fully vaccinated.
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