WATERLOO -- As Ontario prepares to enter Step 2 of its reopening plan Wednesday, experts warn Waterloo Region residents shouldn't get their hopes up about following suit anytime soon.
Despite local vaccination rates now falling in line with the rest of the province, the Delta variant continues to have a stubborn grip on the region.
"Waterloo, it's very stubborn, it's staying at about the same level," said biostatistics expert Ryan Imgrund.
Over the past few weeks, Waterloo Region's COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have barely dropped.
The region reported 41 new cases on Tuesday, with 56 people hospitalized with the disease.
Imgrund says COVID-19 trends in Waterloo Region are similar to last November and December, noting discussions at that time were about further restrictions, not reopening.
"It wasn't about are we going to be able to reopen, it's about how soon before we have to close down again," he said.
But in the past six days, the number of fully vaccinated Waterloo Region residents has jumped. More than 32 per cent of adults are now fully immunized.
Now, experts say time is needed to see if the vaccines can rapidly bring down Waterloo Region's COVID-19 cases.
"We want the decline to be steeper than it is currently now before we proceed to Step 2 of reopening," said University of Waterloo public health professor Zahid Butt.
"We're saying it should be a week and a half from when it starts to drop," Imgrund said. "Has it been able to drop yet? No."
Province-wide, the Delta variant is becoming a growing threat as clusters pop up in other health unit regions.
"This Delta strain is proving to be very difficult to control and it will take a significant amount of work, but I have all the confidence in the team," Ontario's chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore said. "I'm confident we can get this under control, but it will take time."
