14 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Waterloo region

There were 14 new COVID-19 cases in Waterloo region on Friday, public health reported.

It means there were a total of 44 active cases on Friday. No one was listed on the region's website as being treated in hospital for the virus. There have been 50 cases in total so far this month, with 43 of those being reported this week.

The spike in cases on Friday follows a jump on Thursday of nine new cases. The increase isn't surprising, says the region's acting medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, but it is cause for concern.

"We've noticed an increasing number of cases reported in the last few days. Public health is quickly following up with cases and contacts," Wang said in a statement sent to CBC Kitchener-Waterloo.

"We need to be vigilant. We were expecting to see increased cases due to increased social interaction in the last few weeks, but we still need to keep the spread of COVID as low as possible," Wang said. "Please continue to do your part, do not expand your social circles and keep practicing physical distancing with those outside your social circles."

The news comes the same day Ontario reported 213 new cases of COVID-19, the highest daily increase since June.

89% of cases resolved

The jump in cases on Friday is significant because it's the first double-digit weekday jump since July 13, when 11 cases were reported. Other double-digit case increases were reported on Monday mornings, which include cases from Friday, Saturday and before 7 p.m. on Sunday.

Five of the new cases reported Friday were in people aged 10 to 15. The majority werefrom community spread.

The number of people who have died remains at 120, a number that has not changed since Aug. 21.

The region's testing centres have conducted more than 74,700 tests. In total since March, there have been 1,503 positive cases of COVID-19 in the region. Of those, 1,339 have been marked as resolved.

There is one active outbreak at a long-term care home in Waterloo. An outbreak at A.R. Goudie in Kitchener, which involved one person living at the home, was declared over on Wednesday.

6 new cases in Guelph

Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph is reporting six new cases in Guelph with 11 active cases. No one is listed as being in hospital.

For the entire region, there are 19 active cases. Nearly 49,000 tests have been done in the area covered by the public health unit.