KITCHENER -- Region of Waterloo Public Health reported the first COVID-19 death since the end of October on Monday as local case numbers continued to surge.
The last death from the disease was reported at the end of October.
The region's online COVID-19 dashboard showed that there were another 53 cases identified on Monday, bringing the region's local total to 2,759. More than 300 of those have been reported in the last week alone, a trend that contributed to the region being placed in the province's orange zone.
The latest update also showed that the number of resolved cases rose by 56 to 2,280, while the death toll rose to 122.
That leaves 357 active cases in the region, a number that has climbed significantly over the past couple months. On the date of the last COVID-19 death in the region, there were just over 100 active cases.
Of the 357 active cases, 11 are in hospital.
On Monday, two of the region's key COVID-19 indicators remained past the threshold that would move the region to the red zone. Public health officials said Friday that the region could be escalated to that zone as early as this week.
The positivity rate in Waterloo Region remained at 3.6 per cent on Monday, while its reproductive estimate stayed put at 1.5 new infections per case. The criteria for a region to enter the red zone is a positivity rate of 2.5 per cent or more and a reproductive estimate of 1.2 or higher.
Public health officials also said last week that the region's weekly incidence rate had reached 46 cases per 100,000 people, a number that would also qualify the region to be put into the red zone.
This is a breaking news update. Check back for more details.
