Waterloo region sees 23 new variant cases Monday

Regional public health reported 23 new variant cases of COVID-19 Monday, bringing the total number of these cases up to 543.

Thirty-one of the variant cases are the B117 variant, first reported in the UK. The rest have screened positive for a variant but the lineage has not been determined. 

There are a total of 348 active cases of COVID-19 in the region, up seven from Sunday. 

There were no new deaths reported Monday. 

Twenty-one people are in hospital and six are in the ICU, which is the same as what was reported Sunday.

Outbreaks

The outbreak at Forest Heights Revera was declared over Monday. There were a total of four staff member cases.

Currently there are 10 active outbreaks in the region. They include:

• Holy Rosary Catholic Elementary School with two cases.
• Two unnamed construction sites with three cases each.
• St. John Catholic Elementary School with two cases. 
• Two manufacturing/industrial sites with six cases each.

The University of Waterloo reported five new cases in its all-residence outbreak Monday. The university said the outbreak now totals 34 cases, but on the region's dashboard the case count is at 37. 

The university also announced new safety measures for researchers Monday in the wake of the provincial shutdown.

Face-to-face research with human participants has been suspended with some exceptions and so has new travel for off-campus research and field work outside the Waterloo region.

Wilfrid Laurier University is not listed as an outbreak by regional public health, although its website lists 10 cases on Waterloo campus. Nine of those are among students living on campus.