As the case rate increases in the Waterloo region, more children will suffer from COVID-19: Dr. Hsiu-LiWang

“This trend is likely to continue until most of the population between the ages of 5 and 11 is immunized,” Wang said.

As of Friday, dashboards in the area show that there were outbreaks at five schools.

• There are 20 cases in Kitchener’s Blessed Sacrament Catholic Elementary School. The school is currently banned from face-to-face learning, and the school board says it expects students to be able to return to the classroom on Monday.
• Kitchener’s South Ridge Public School. There are four cases.
• St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Elementary School in Cambridge. There are four cases in multiple cohorts.
• Air’s Cedar Creek Public School and two cases.
• Waterloo Lester B. Pearson Public School and Two Cases.

On Friday afternoon, the Waterloo Regional Municipal Board of Education also announced two outbreaks at Forest Glen Public School in New Hamburg. The board said this was not a school-wide outbreak.

At Southridge Public School, four cases are associated with outbreaks in one cohort, but Wang said there were ten cases at school. Public health has rejected a total of nine cohorts, including six classes, one bus, and two staff cohorts.

“I feel that more and more children are testing positive,” Wang said, adding that there is a clear link to showing that children have been infected with the virus from people in the home and high-risk contacts. rice field.

Public health provided South Ridge parents and caregivers with a quick test. This was called “cautious and proactive measures” to curb the spread of asymptomatic students and catch all cases. The use of rapid diagnostics is voluntary, but public health wants families to participate, the king said.

Students attending symptomatic schools should not use rapid testing, but instead look for PCR testing at the COVID-19 Evaluation Center, Wang said.

As more children were vaccinated, the king said he expected the case rate to decline. She said study data showed that children initiate a good immune response even with a single dose.

26 new cases

There were 26 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the Waterloo region on Friday.

There were 230 active cases. Eight people were infected with the virus in three hospitals in the area. There were 5 people in the intensive care unit. The area states that people in the ICU may no longer be infected with COVID-19, but need continuous care.

There were 10 outbreaks in the area, including 5 at the schools mentioned above. Other occurrences are as follows:

• A construction site with three cases.
• A retail store with three cases.
• Transportation workplace with three cases.
• Jacob Hesperer Child Care Riverside and two cases.
• Manufacturer of 2 cases.

30% of vaccinated children have reservations

Since last Friday, the region has given 8,613 COVID-19 vaccines to children aged 5 to 11 years, said Vicky Murray, director of vaccine services in the region.

So far, she said, 30% of children in that age group have been or will be vaccinated in the coming weeks.

According to Murray, a mass vaccination clinic is scheduled for December 11th and 12th in Cambridge, where 6,000 children are expected to be vaccinated.

Lisa Anstey, manager of the Pinebush Vaccine Clinic, said she has updated the space and called it “Camp Pinebush.” on. On December 11th and 12th, she said she would place a DJ on the site to welcome special guests such as Star Wars characters and a visit to Santa Claus.

“We really want to support a happy and healthy environment,” Anstey said.

You can make a reservation Through the local website..

Preparation of Omicron

Wang said the first signs of the Omicron variant detected in South Africa were not in this area. But she said she was hoping it would arrive here.

“I think it’s a problem,” Wang said.

According to Wang, the region is heavily affected by delta mutations, accounting for about half of the 7,200 cases of viral mutations detected in the region. By comparison, the beta and gamma versions were 21 and 98, respectively.

According to Wang, the Delta variant remains a “horrible enemy” as it continues to exist in the region.

“I don’t know about Omicron, but you have to be vigilant,” she said.