Record high of 189 new COVID-19 cases in Waterloo region

Waterloo region set a new record high for COVID-19 cases in a single day with 189 reported by public health on Wednesday.

That brings the number of cases reported in January to 770, and a total of6,669 since the pandemic was declared last March.

"There has been a resurgence of cases following the holidays, provincially as well as locally," the region's medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang said in an email to CBC Kitchener-Waterloo. The reported cases "are reflective of the interactions people have had two weeks prior," Wang stated.

Wang says the current provincial shutdown measures "are critical" but "we cannot rely on them alone. We all need to drastically reduce, or continue to maintain to a minimum, our social interactions."

She asked people to avoid social gatherings and only leave the housefor essential purposes.

"It will be important to measure the impact of the shutdown measures as well as our own actions in the coming weeks," Wang said.

804 active cases, 2 deaths

There are 804 active cases in the region with 27 people in hospital and 11 of those people in the intensive care unit.

Two more people have died after contracting the virus, bringing the total since March to 171. The two people were both women, one in her 80s and one in her 100s, public health reported.

Testing partners in the region have done more than 282,000 tests since March.

Ontario reported a new high of3,266 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.

31 active outbreaks

There are 31 active outbreaks in the region including 18 at long-term care and retirement homes.

Wednesday, Patrick Gaskin, president of Cambridge Memorial Hospital said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the decline in coronavirus cases at the Cambridge Country Manor home.

Other outbreaks include:

• Two at congregate settings, one with 15 cases and one with nine cases.
• One at a food processing facility with 66 cases.
• Four at manufacturing workplaces: One with 12 cases, one with four cases, one with three cases and one with two cases.
• One at a gym with 12 cases.
• One related to hockey with five cases.
• One at a warehouse with four cases.
• One at a food and beverage services workplace with three cases.
• One at a retail workplace with three cases.
• One at St Mary's General Hospital in Kitchener.