2 more long-term care residents die of COVID-19

Two more people living in long-term care facilities in Waterloo region have died of COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths to 19 as of Friday morning, according to numbers by Region of Waterloo Public Health.

Two more people living in long-term care facilities in Waterloo region have died of COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths to 19 as of Friday morning, according to Region of Waterloo Public Health. 

Both deaths were at Forest Heights Revera Long Term Care in Kitchener. 

Five of its residents have now died from the virus, while 54 residents have tested positive. So have 38 staff, since an outbreak was declared on April 1. 

Forest Heights is just one of 14 long-term care homes to have declared an outbreak in the area covered by the Region of Waterloo Public Health Unit. Outbreaks are declared in these facilities when a single case is confirmed or presumed positive. 

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According to public health, long-term care and retirement home outbreaks are now the primary form of transmission for COVID-19 in the area, representing 38 per cent of cases. Second is community transmission, at 31 per cent and then close contact with someone already diagnosed with the virus, at 22 per cent. 

However, the region is not currently testing everyone with symptoms for COVID-19. Public health prioritizes tests for health-care workers, hospital patients and people living and working in long-term care homes.

Friday, public health said 399 people have now tested positive or are presumptive for COVID-19 in Waterloo region, and a third of those cases —138 — are now resolved.

A presumptive case is one that has been tested at a lab and comes back positive, but the results need to be confirmed by a second lab.

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