Region's top doctor pleads with people to 'stay the course'

Waterloo region's top doctor is calling on people in the region to "stay the course" when it comes to physical distancing guidelines to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Premier Doug Ford gave an update Monday afternoon on the framework to reopening the province, saying the province will not rush anything and the plan "is a roadmap, not a calendar." Other provinces, including Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island which have far fewer cases than Ontario, have also started plans to reopen those provinces next month.

Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, the region's acting medical officer of health, says even though Ontario is discussing a plan on how to reopen the province, it's not the time to relax measures.

"We absolutely need to stay the course because if we don't do that, in addition to the spread that we are now battling in the long-term care homes and retirement homes, we could have a very quick rise in community cases again," Wang said.

"Really it's a plea that I'm putting out to everyone in our community: Please continue to stay at home as much as possible, please continue to practise physical distancing when you're out and please do not think that things are getting better to the point that we can start to do our normal activities again."

Regional Chair Karen Redman added a pivotal moment for her on the weekend was when Education Minister Stephen Lecce said schools would not open until the end of May at the earliest.

"In Ontario, we are not ready to resume business as usual and that includes leisure activities, going to work and going to school," she said.

Framework to open community gardens coming

Redman called the announcement over the weekend from the province that community gardens will be allowed to open "great news for so many residents."

Wang said draft guidelines for the gardens are under review and public health staff will be connecting with Waterloo Region Community Garden Council and municipal staff to discuss the guidelines.

"Meetings on this topic are expected to take place this week and we are endeavouring to move as quickly as we can to try and make sure that community gardens have the information they need to be able to reopen safely," Wang said.

The news was also welcomed by a number of people who use the community gardens. The K-W Urban Harvesters group uses land at Wilfrid Laurier University. A spokesperson for the school said that even though the campus is closed, the school's sustainabilty office which runs the gardens is working to see how they can open the gardens for the season.

6 new deaths in long-term care homes

Six more people have died due to COVID-19 in Waterloo region, new numbers released Monday morning show.

That brings to total number of deaths in the region to 61.

The numbers from Region of Waterloo Public Health showed the six deaths were at long-term care homes in Kitchener: five at Forest Heights Revera and one at Trinity Village.

Wang said the people were all over the age of 70.

Forest Heights has been hit hard by the virus. 133 people who live there have tested positive for the virus, as well as an additional 53 staff members. A total of 32 people have died.

There are 683 confirmed or presumptive cases of COVID-19 in Waterloo region, the numbers released Monday morning show. That's up from 677 reported Sunday.

Public health officials have said that testing for the novel coronavirus is limited and that the region is following provincial guidelines to only test health-care workers, essential workers, their families, hospital patients and people living in long-term care homes.

The general public is not being tested for COVID-19 even if they're showing symptoms. Instead, people are being told to stay home and self quarantine.

The numbers released Monday also show:

• There have been 5,598 tests have been done in the region.
• 32 people are in hospital.
• 215 of presumed or confirmed cases are healthcare workers, making up 31 per cent of cases.
• There are active outbreaks at 10 long-term care and retirement homes.

The numbers, which are accurate as of 7 p.m. on Sunday, also show 259 people have recovered from COVID-19, up from 248 reported on Sunday.

Outbreaks at long-term care homes

There are 10 active outbreaks at long-term care and retirement homes in Waterloo region.

That's an increase of one from Sunday, with Highland Place Retirement Residence being added to the list with one positive case in a staff member. An outbreak is declared when just one person living at a home or working there tests positive for COVID-19.

Six homes have had people die from the virus:

• Forest Heights Revera in Kitchener has 133 cases in residents, 53 cases in staff and 32 deaths.
• Trinity Village in Kitchener has 31 cases in residents, 28 cases in staff and five deaths.
• Highview Residences in Kitchener has 14 cases in residents, 11 cases in staff and seven deaths.
• A.R. Goudie in Kitchener has 17 cases in residents, 12 cases in staff and two deaths.
• Lanark Heights in Kitchener has eight cases in residents, six cases in staff and two deaths.
• Victoria Place in Kitchener has 23 cases in residents, eight cases in staff and one death.

There are also outbreaks at Briarfield Gardens in Kitchener, The Village of Winston Park in Kitchener and Marian Residence in Cambridge.

Outbreaks have been declared over at eight long-term care and retirement homes.

See the full list of outbreaks.

4 outbreaks at hospitals

There are also four active outbreaks at area hospitals. There is one at Grand River Hospital in the medicine unit and three are at St. Mary's Hospital on the third floor, fifth floor and sixth floor.

Cases edge up in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph

There are now 257 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the area covered by Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health. That's up from 248 reported on Sunday. The health unit is only reporting confirmed cases, not presumptive cases.

There have been 18 deaths.

Nine people are listed as being in hospital and five people are in intensive care.

There are 88 cases marked as resolved, up one case from Sunday.

Read more from today:

Chart: Long-term care home outbreaks in Waterloo region