KITCHENER -- The number of COVID-19 cases in Waterloo Region continues to climb, with the region reporting 29 new cases on Tuesday morning.

The region's online dashboard shows that 15 of those cases were reported on Monday, while the totals from the day before increased.

There have now been 1,636 cases of COVID-19 in the region, including 1,374 resolved cases and 120 deaths. That leaves 142 known active cases in the region, a number that also continues to climb; back on Sept. 1, there were only 42 active cases in the region.

Waterloo Region's top doctor said during a media briefing on Tuesday that this is the start of Waterloo Region's second wave.

"We have started a new wave of COVID-19 in our community," Medical Officer of Health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang said during the briefing.

"I expect that our cases and outbreaks will continue to escalate for at least a few weeks. What happens after that will depend on actions we take now."

Dr. Wang said that case investigators have determined that the increase in cases is at least partly because of an increase in community transmission.

"Too many people are having close contact with too many other people outside of their social circle," she said. She reminded local residents that a social bubble involves the same 10 people who have committed, and not 10 people at any given time.

She asked people to re-commit to those smaller bubbles in order to help drive cases back down.

Of the active cases, there are none in hospital. To date, 251 people have been hospitalized with the disease at some point, including 60 who needed care in the ICU.

ONE NEW OUTBREAK, SEVEN STILL ACTIVE

Public health officials have also declared another outbreak at a long-term care home in the region after a staff member at Village at Winston Park tested positive for the disease.

There are still seven other active outbreaks in the region:

  • Lanark Heights LTC, declared on Sept. 19, two cases in staff
  • Village of University Gates LTC, declared on Sept. 5, one case in staff
  • Two congregate settings, with two active cases in staff
  • One gym, where three cases were reported
  • One food and beverage service, where two cases were reported
  • One childcare setting

Alongside the increases in cases, there was also an increase in testing. The region reported that another 3,699 tests had been done since Friday, for an average of about 925 per day. There have been 85,365 tests done in the region since the pandemic began.

ONTARIO REPORTING MORE CASES

Across the province, the number of new cases rose to 478, the highest single-day increase in Ontario since May 2, when 511 cases were reported.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said in a tweet that 153 of the new cases were identified in Toronto, with 95 in Peel Region and 90 in Ottawa.

Elliott said that 32,400 tests had been processed in the last 24-hour period. By comparison, the number of tests that Ontario processed on May 2 was about half that number, at 16,305.