Region in ‘race against the clock’

Medical officer says people must commit to health measures to stave off Delta variant

WATERLOO REGION — Hope is still on the horizon, but the new Delta variant is jeopardizing Waterloo Region’s chances to emerge any time soon from the COVID-19 pandemic.

New infections are on the rise along with hospitalizations as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads in the region, which has been identified as a hot spot by the province.

“We are at a tipping point. We have two paths we’re going to go down,” associate medical officer of health Dr. Julie Emili said during Friday’s briefing.

“If we don’t recommit to public-health measures and do everything we can to keep Delta at bay, we will be going down a path of increased cases, hospitals being overwhelmed, and then potentially moving backwards in the steps.”

Vaccination efforts are ramping up in the region, which will now have expanded eligibility for earlier second doses since being identified as a Delta hot spot.

“It’s really a race against the clock,” said chief administrative officer Bruce Lauckner. “Hopefully, vaccines win out.”

Lauckner said what’s needed from all the region’s residents is “digging in more, one more time” to avoid a fourth wave of the pandemic.

“We see with each successive variant it’s a little harder to manage,” Emili said.

“There is the hope that we can do this. It’s just a little bit longer. We’ll know over the next two weeks, which path we’ll end up going.”

The Delta variant is circulating in the community, and like other variants, it’s more transmissible and may cause more severe illness. Currently, there are 19 cases of the Delta variant confirmed, but more are expected in the coming days to weeks.

“We are concerned that our trends are not improving as they have in other communities because of the Delta variant,” Emili said.

The region’s weekly incidence rate has increased over the past week and is currently at 57 cases per 100,000.

“Hospitalizations and ICU admissions have begun to increase as well,” Emili said.

In the Friday update, there were 32 hospitalizations reported, including 19 people in intensive care.

Local hospitals are seeing “troubling trends” in admissions, said St. Mary’s General Hospital president Lee Fairclough, regional hospital lead for the pandemic response.

Recently there’s a sharp increase in the number of critically ill patients, including multiple family members who all become infected. Along with those reported on the region’s COVID-19 dashboard, there are many other patients still requiring care but who are no longer infectious.

No transfers have come from outside the region.

“These are individuals unfortunately who are quite ill from within our community,” Fairclough said.

Another 69 COVID-19 cases were reported in the Friday update by public health, putting the total at 16,470.

Variants of concern cases increased by eight to 3,411.

Active cases increased by 22 to 405.

Outbreaks went down by one to four. There are now 47 cases linked to an outbreak declared June 3 in multiple locations of a congregate setting in Kitchener and Waterloo, where people who are experiencing homelessness or precariously housed are served.

“We have seen a large number of cases over a short period of time when compared to other outbreaks. The majority of our daily case counts are not linked to this outbreak, which means we have ongoing spread in our community and there is the potential to see outbreaks like this one in other settings due to the Delta variant,” Emili said. Deaths remained at 258. More than half a million tests have been done in the region.

“Locally the main driver of transmission has been close contact,” Emili said.

About half of cases are caused by close contact, including among household members and social gatherings between people from multiple households.

Gatherings on Mother’s Day and the May long weekend, in particular, are linked to several new cases. None have yet been linked to recent anti-mask rallies, but public health is watching for new infections from outdoor gatherings where recommended measures weren’t followed.

On Friday, the region moved into the first step of the province’s three-step reopening plan which eases some restrictions for a variety of activities including limited outdoor gatherings. But Emili warns people still need to continue following public-health measures — including having close contact with only immediate household members and wearing a mask and distancing from all others — or the new variant will spread quickly.

“It is hopeful now and moving forward with Step 1 is the right thing to do right now, but people have to commit to the measures that are necessary to prevent spread,” Emili said.

Vaccinations

Starting on Monday, anyone who received a first vaccine dose before May 9 can request an earlier second-dose appointment. People with the highestrisk health conditions and those 70 and older are already eligible.

An update to the region’s booking system to allow people to rebook earlier second appointments on their own was expected this week, but it has been delayed.

“A few bugs have been identified,” said Waterloo Regional Police Deputy Chief Shirley Hilton, who is heading the region’s vaccine distribution task force.

Hilton hopes that it will come “very soon.” Until then, people will need to complete a request form on the region’s website and wait to be contacted.

A total of 385,827 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been given to regional residents, and 70.63 per cent of eligible adults have received at least one dose. Only 8.58 per cent of adults are fully vaccinated.

Wednesday marked the first day that most shots given to regional residents (51 per cent) were second doses.