Local COVID-related deaths rise as signals of community spread start to fall

As signs continue to suggest spread of the Omicron variant has reached its peak in this region, we're also just now starting to see variant's full effects.

The Region of Waterloo says wastewater signals up to Jan. 24 — while still high relative to previous waves — have begun to fall in Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge. This suggests not only have the three cities hit a peak in the spread of the Omicron variant, but may also be starting to come down the other side.

That said while this is a good indicator the worst of the Omicron wave may be behind us, the brunt of it has also now begun to show up in the daily death counts.

“Unfortunately, due to the extent at which Omicron has spread, we are now seeing a growing number of reported deaths in our community,” said Waterloo Region Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang during her weekly pandemic update on Friday.

The region reported 26 virus-related deaths in the 30-day period ending Jan. 23. Of those, it says 65% of those who died were 80 or older while nearly three-in-four were people who had received at least two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“While the risk of serious outcomes and deaths remains greatest among the unvaccinated, a majority of deaths recorded will be among the vaccinated as a large majority of the population have had two doses, at least, already,” Dr. Wang said. “Especially those in the older age groups.”

Public health officials making it clear the increase in deaths does not mean the virus is beginning to surge again in the community, nor does it mean the vaccines are not effective in preventing serious sickness for most people. They say deaths are the most delayed indicator of previous spread and, unfortunately, we're now seeing that indicator catch up to how widespread Omicron became before it peaked.

“The amount of cases is like nothing — there's no word except staggering,” said Dr. Sharon Bal, a family physician in Cambridge and the primary care physician lead for the region's vaccine task force when speaking to how widespread the variant was — and still largely is. “I'd say the third, fourth week of December all through January I have never, and this is true for all colleagues, never seen this many COVID-positive patients in the practice.”

“[Entire] families with COVID-positive results.”

Dr. Bal says this actually speaks to the effectiveness of the vaccines, saying a similar volume of cases in the second or third wave would have been devastating.

“The piece about how protected our community is because of vaccination cannot be overemphasized,” she said. “We never would have been able to withstand the assault of something like Omicron previously.”