Cambridge COVID-19 assessment centre to close for weekend so staff can work at hospital

The COVID-19 assessment centre in Cambridge will be closed this weekend and staff will be temporarily reassigned to support the hospital, which is facing staffing shortages.

The Cambridge Memorial Hospital runs the assessment centre and noted people who are eligible for PCR testing can book an appointment at another assessment centre in the region, including some pharmacies.

The news comes as Region of Waterloo Public Health reported an increase ofoutbreaks in high-risk settings. The number of outbreaks was at 33 as of Friday's weekly update, up 10 from a week earlier.

The breakdown of outbreaks was:

• 20 in long-term care and retirement homes.
• 10 in congregate settings.
• Three in hospitals.

There were 47 people in hospital with COVID-19, a significant rise from the first day of the month when there were 15 peoplehospitalized for the virus.

The region also reported 450 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed over the past week, although not everyone with symptoms is eligible to be tested for the virus.

There was one COVID-related death reported, bringing the pandemic total in the health district to 432.

Wastewater data shows signals for the virus continued to plateau for a second week in a row at the testing sites in Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo. The wastewater signal is dominated by the Omicron subvariant BA.5, the region's dashboard said.

The region's vaccination dashboard showed:

• 84.6 per cent of all residents have received one dose of the vaccine.
• 81.9 per cent of all residents have two doses.
• 49.4 per cent of all residents have three doses.
• 9.8 per cent of all residents have four doses.

The region does not yet list vaccine doses given to children between the ages of six months and five years old.