KITCHENER -- Another nine cases of COVID-19 were reported in Waterloo Region on Wednesday morning.
There have been a total of 1,722 cases in the region to date, including 1,449 resolved cases and 120 deaths. There are 153 active cases, including one who is in hospital.
More than 131,000 tests have been administered in Waterloo Region since the pandemic began.
The region also declared one of its seven outbreaks over. A sports and fitness facility, identified by CTV Kitchener as F45 Training, had an outbreak declared after three people tested positive for COVID-19. Their outbreak has now been declared over.
There are still six other active outbreaks in the region:
- One congregate setting, with two cases in staff and two in residents
- One food and beverage service, with four total cases
- Kitchener Collegiate Institute, with two total cases
- Three child care settings, with three total cases
The recent increase in cases in Waterloo Region has prompted public health officials to advise against traditional Thanksgiving celebrations as the holiday draws near.
During a Tuesday morning media briefing, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang suggested that people gather virtually instead, or limit their gathering to a small one without a meal.
That advice was delivered the day before Ontario public health officials updated their COVID-19 modelling data, which now predicts that the province could see 1,000 new cases per day by mid-October.
Dr. Wang addressed the new modelling, saying it was concerning but not surprising.
"Initially, Ontario’s second wave of COVID-19 was primarily impacting the 20-39 age group, but case growth is now occurring in all other age groups," she said in a statement posted to Twitter.
"This is what we’ve been concerned about for a while. This is why we cannot be complacent about the more recent surge in cases mostly in younger populations. This will only spill over into other age groups and vulnerable populations."
Ontario as a whole logged another 625 infections on Wednesday, up from the 554 cases that health officials reported on Tuesday, but down from its highest-ever increase of more than 700 reported on Monday.
The province has reported 51,170 cases since January, including 43,907 resolved ones and 2,848 deaths.
