Waterloo Region reports record number of new COVID-19 cases

Waterloo Region reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, adding 232 more.

The previous record was 180 cases back on Jan. 6.

Of the new cases, 227 were reported in the past 24 hours, while the rest were added to previous days' totals.

Thursday's update brings the number of COVID-19 cases in Waterloo Region to 22,775 to date, including 21,319 recoveries and 312 deaths.

Active infections rose by 102 on Thursday, now sitting at 1,049. Active cases were last over 1,000 on Jan. 15.

There are 19 people receiving treatment for COVID-19 in area hospitals, including six in ICUs.

There are 21 active outbreaks in Waterloo Region.

The breakdown of variants of concern is as follows:

• 3,126 are the Alpha variant
• 21 are the Beta variant
• 98 are the Gamma variant
• 4,009 are the Delta variant
• 44 are the Omicron variant
• 262 cases have had a mutation detected, but have not yet had a variant strain confirmed

A total of 1,023,207 vaccine doses have been administered in Waterloo Region to date. Of the eligible population aged five and older, 85.49 per cent have received one dose, while 79.96 per cent have two doses.

As for the entire population, 80.95 per cent have one dose and 75.78 per cent have two doses.

The region has also given 96,327 booster shots to date.

HEALTH OFFICIALS RESPOND TO COVID-19 INCREASE

Local health officials are worried the worst is yet to come.

“The numbers are going to be very high, very soon,” Lee Fairclough, the President of St. Mary's General Hospital, told CTV News.

The region opened up almost 11,900 booster appointments next week in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.

“The number of vaccines that have been delivered over the course of the last week is really where we need it to be,” said Fairclough.

Local experts expect the number of cases to be even higher than the region records. That, they say, is due to two factors: increased demand for COVID-19 testing which is causing delays, and some people not getting tested.

“Especially if you are asymptomatic, you may not be coming out to take a test,” said Zahid Butt, an Infectious Disease Expert at the University of Waterloo.

Local health officials said they're working on improving testing availability.

“Particularly those working in hospitals so that we can ensure that we can maintain our workforce,” said Fairclough.

Some experts are calling for another lockdown.

“Really, if we want to control the virus we might have to initiate stricter restrictions than we have now," said Butt. "Why do we want to do that? One is because you want to restrict the movement of people in the community."

"I think this speaks to how rapidly Omicron is able to spread and the potential for this wave to have a significant impact," said Dr. Matthew Tenenbaum, the Associate Medical Officer of Health for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health. "People need to take this seriously and follow the recommended public health measures."

PROVINCE ALSO SETS A COVID-19 RECORD

Ontario also set a record for new cases on Thursday, reporting 5,790 more. The province's seven-day rolling average is now up to 4,001. Last week, it was 1,674.

The province's positivity rate is at 16 per cent, the highest rate ever.

Of the new infections reported Thursday, 1,398 cases involved people who are unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown. The remaining 4,392 infections involved people who are fully vaccinated.

To date, Ontario has reported 667,353 COVID-19 cases, including 624,801 recoveries and 10,140 deaths.

With files from CTV Toronto