Waterloo region's COVID-19 trends move in right direction: Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang

Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, the region's medical officer of health, says COVID-19 case trends are moving in the right direction but rates remain high.

Wang said if the province's colour-coded COVID system were being used right now, Waterloo region would "firmly" be inred.

She noted the threshold for entering the red zone under the provincial system would be 40 cases per 100,000 people per week.

"We're at 70," she said.

"It will take some time to get from 70 down to 40 and then lower," she said. "That's why everything we do now and continue to do in the future, it will really impact our future chances of being in the best position possible when we exit the stay at home order."

She added, "We still have work to do."

54 new cases

Public health reported 54 new cases on Friday, which brought the total in April to 420 and since the start of the pandemic to 14,621. Of all the cases in the region, 13,853 have been marked as resolved.

There were 498 active cases.

There were 52 people in the region's hospitals with 37in the intensive care units. Those numbers include people who have been transferred to the region from other parts of the province.

There were no new deaths reported Friday. The total number of COVID-related deaths in the region remained at 253.

There were 2,262 cases of the virus where a variant or mutation had been detected. Of those:

• 1,973 are the B117 variant first detected in the U.K.
• 16 are the P1 variant first detected in Brazil.
• Two are the B1351 variant first detected in South Africa.
• 271 require further testing to determine the variant.

13 active outbreaks

There were 13 active outbreaks. That includes one outbreak at The Village of University Gates long-term care home where three staff members and one person who lives at the home have tested positive for the virus.

There is one outbreak at Rising Oaks Early Learning St. Luke with two cases.

There was also an outbreak at Conestoga College with three cases in students who were self-isolating and no longer on campus.

There were 10 workplace outbreaks:

• Two at retail stores: One with six cases and one with three.
• One at a food processor with 31 cases.
• One at a manufacturing workplace with 23 cases.
• One at a warehouse with six cases.
• One at an automobile sales and service business with six cases.
• One at Waterloo Regional Police Service with six cases.
• One at a trades business with two cases.
• One at a food and beverage service business with two cases.
• One at a pharmacy with two cases.