Uptick in COVID-19 cases likely linked to long weekend: Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang

Waterloo region saw 57new COVID-19 cases Friday and the region's medical officer of health says it's likely linked to social gatherings over the long weekend.

Earlier in the week, the region reported four days of cases under 40. On Thursday, the number of cases reported was 44.

"That would be in line with the usual uptick we see after long weekends,"Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang said during a weekly COVID-19 media briefing on Friday morning.

She added public health will "need to continue to monitor" the case numbers to ensure it's a blip and not a trend to rising case rates.

"We remain in a precarious state where we really need to keep up with our precautions even though in general rates are on a downward trend and more and more of us are being immunized," Wang said.

Wang said the uptick is also similar to what's being seen provincially.Ontario reported an additional 914 cases of COVID-19 and the deaths of 19 people with the illness on Friday.

348 active cases

The number of active cases rose to 348 from 312 on Thursday.

There were 18 people in the region's hospitals, with 17 of them being treated in the intensive care unit.

There were no new deaths reported.

The region reported there were 3,303 cases that have tested positive for a mutation or variant. Of those:

• 2,919are confirmed to be the B117 variant first detected in the U.K.
• 31 are the P1 variant first detected in Brazil.
• 12 at the B1617 variant first detected in India.
• Six are the B1351 variant first detected in South Africa.
• 335have tested positive for a mutation but further testing is required.

5 active outbreaks

There were five active outbreaks in the region on Friday.They were:

• One at Forest Heights Revera, a long-term care home, where there were five cases in staff and two cases in people who live there.
• One at a farm with 13 cases.
• One at a congregate setting with multiple locations with 13 cases.
• One at a food and beverage services business with two cases.
• One at Wilfrid Laurier University with two cases.