Waterloo Region has highest number of new COVID-19 cases in Ont., provincial update says - CTV Toronto

KITCHENER -- Waterloo Region has the highest COVID-19 case count in all of Ontario, according to the province's Wednesday update.

The province releases its numbers at 10:30 a.m., which may differ from the region's case update at 1:30 p.m. due to different reporting timeframes.

In a tweet, Minister of Health Christine Elliott said Waterloo Region accounts for 71 of Ontario's 384 cases on Wednesday. Peel Region has 60 new cases, and Toronto has 54.

This marks the first time that Waterloo Region has had the highest amount of new COVID-19 cases in the province.

Ontario is reporting 384 cases of #COVID19 and nearly 28,100 tests completed. Locally, there are 71 new cases in Waterloo, 60 in Peel, 54 in Toronto, 23 in Middlesex-London and 21 in Ottawa.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) June 16, 2021

Ryan Imgrund, a biostatistician who works with several health units in Ontario, says he would reccomend Waterloo Region scale back the recent reopening step.

"It's a really, really big problem," he said. "When you go ahead into Stage One and cases go up, and we are seeing a reproductive rate above one as well, and as you are seeing hospitalizations as high as they are, that's a sign that Stage One should not be happening."

Last week, the province identified Waterloo Region as a Delta variant hot spot. The variant, also known as B.1.617, was first identified in India.

As of Monday, people who received a dose of Pfizer or Moderna before May 9 are eligible for an accelerated second dose, and the interval after AstraZeneca as a first dose has shortened to eight weeks.

On Tuesday, regional officials reported another 51 cases of the disease. The latest update will be released at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

With reporting from CTV Kitchener's Nicole Lampa

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Waterloo Region has highest number of new COVID-19 cases in Ont., provincial update says - CTV Toronto
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