KITCHENER -- Public health officials reported 88 new cases of COVID-19 in Waterloo Region on Friday. It's just the sixth time that the region has reported 80 or more cases since the pandemic began.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang said that the region's incidence rate is the eighth highest among public health units in the province at about 85 per 100,000 people per week.
The province as a whole currently has a weekly incidence rate of about 100 per 100,000.
The region's latest update brings the total number of cases to 4,287, a number that includes 4,167 resolved cases and 140 deaths.
The most recent death, reported on Friday, appears to have been at Waterloo Heights, an independent living facility in Waterloo Region that has seen two COVID-19 cases in residents.
That leaves 519 active cases in the region, a number that rose by 41 from the day before. It's the highest number of active cases in two weeks, the region's online COVID-19 dashboard shows: back on Dec. 3, there were 550 cases, but since, the number has been lower than 519.
Of the active cases, 36 people are currently in hospital, including 10 people who are being cared for in an intensive care unit.
The region also reported that about 5,400 more tests had been done since Tuesday. That works out to about 1,800 per tests and brings the total number of tests done to date to 244,998. The region's rolling seven-day positivity rate also rose to 3.9 per cent on Friday.
There are still 29 active outbreaks in Waterloo Region.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang said she told provincial leaders more needs to be done in the area.
"I am advocating there needs to be stronger measures," she said on Friday morning.
The region moved into the red tier nearly four weeks ago. Since then, hospitalizations, ICU patients and deaths have all increased, creating staffing challenges on the front lines.
"Our situation is not sustainable on an ongoing basis," Dr. Wang said.
She said the situation is widespread and could mean a potential lockdown.
"There are discussions right now at a provincial level that may involve more than just Waterloo Region," she said.
VACCINATIONS COULD START IN REGION NEXT WEEK
Though the first person in Canada was vaccinated on Monday, the region is already anticipating getting doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines by next week.
Dept. Chief Shirley Hilton, who is the region's COVID-19 vaccine task force lead, said during a media briefing on Friday that the vaccine could arrive on Dec. 23. If they arrive in a timely manner, she said, vaccinations could start the same day.
Also Friday, the province announced that Grand River Hospital would be one of 17 hospitals to get some of the 90,000 doses that Ontario is expecting to receive in the next two weeks.
Those vaccinations will be designated for high risk people, including health-care workers and those working in long-term care and retirement homes. The general public can expect to have access to the vaccine by mid- to late-2021, Hilton said.
