46 new COVID-19 cases reported in Waterloo region Wednesday

There were 46 new COVID-19 cases in Waterloo region, public health reported Wednesday.

It brought the total number of cases reported in March to1,229 and since the start of the pandemic to 11,931, of which 11,375 have been marked as resolved.

There were 305 active cases in the region with 21 people in hospital and six people in the intensive care unit.

There were no new deaths reported in the community on Wednesday.

The region reported 433 cases have screened positive for a variant of concern, a rise of five casesfrom Tuesday. Of the 433 cases, 27 were confirmed to be the B117 variant first detected in the U.K.

Ontario reported another 2,333 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.

At a news conference Wednesday morning, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he was "extremely concerned" about both rising ICU admissions and daily case counts.

Asked by a reporter about the possibility of any further restrictions coming into effect to help curb current trends, Ford said "stay tuned" and added an announcement is expected on Thursday.

17 active outbreaks

There were 17 active outbreaks in the region including three at long-term care homes where staff have tested positive for the virus.

There were also ongoing outbreaks at the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University linked to off-campus social gatherings earlier in the month. Public health declared an outbreak at all University of Waterloo residences.

As of Wednesday, the cases in the university outbreaks were:

• 27 at University of Waterloo.
• Three at Wilfrid Laurier University.

There were five outbreaks in schools:

• Holy Rosary Catholic Elementary Schoolin Waterloo with two cases.
• St. John Catholic Elementary School in Kitchener with two cases.
• St. Michael's Catholic Elementary School in Cambridge with two cases.
• Resurrection Catholic Secondary Schoolin Kitchener with two cases.
• Vista Hills Public School in Waterloo with three cases.

The other outbreaks were:

• Three in hospitals: One each at Grand River Hospital, St. Mary's General Hospital and Cambridge Memorial Hospital.
• Two at manufacturing workplaces: One with seven cases and one with five cases. Regional health officials do not usually name workplacesunless there is potential for transmission to the general public or a sustained outbreak creates 50 or more cases.
• Two at construction workplaces, both with three cases.