KITCHENER -- The number of people in Waterloo Region with COVID-19 now stands at 103, up from 69 on Friday.
The latest figures, released Monday, represent the biggest increase in confirmed and presumed cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
"This is not unexpected and it is reflective of where we are now, which is in the steeper part of the curve," says Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, the Acting Medical Officer for the Region of Waterloo.
"Everything we do as a community going forward, to only going out when we need to and to maintain physical distancing when we are out, will help us reduce the increase in the number of new cases in the coming weeks."
Though no deaths have been reported, officials say that will soon change.
“As sad as it will be,” says Dr. Wang, “I expect we will have deaths. It’s just right now we don’t have any to report.”
Monday's updated total includes 60 lab-confirmed cases of the virus, with an additional 43 presumptive positive cases listed.
"A presumptive positive is a case that is very likely to receive laboratory confirmation in subsequent days," Dr. Wang reminded the public at a news conference on Monday morning.
A total of 1,740 people have been tested in Waterloo Region, Public Health's website shows, with 1,158 of those tests coming back negative.
The results of 479 tests are still pending and Dr. Wang says that Public Health is also monitoring another 582 people.
Of the 103 positive cases, the region's website shows that 19 people are hospitalized. That's up from the 11 people who were in hospital as of Friday morning.
As a whole, Ontario saw its biggest single-day jump yet on Monday as officials reported another 351 cases of COVID-19. That brought the provincial total to 1,706.
More than 400 cases across the province have been resolved, however the province says it’s still working through the backlog of tests.
