Small increase in local COVID-19 cases

WELLINGTON COUNTY – While there has been a dramatic rise in new cases of COVID-19 provincially, the local numbers don’t appear to be following the same trend.

On Sept. 15, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health was reporting one new case in Dufferin County, five in Guelph and zero in Wellington County.

There are still two active cases in Wellington County, three active cases in Dufferin and 15 active cases in Guelph.

No one in the region is currently in hospital with COVID-19 and the number of deaths – 37 in the region – has remained static for several months.

Provincially, there were 251 new cases reported on Sept. 15 and four deaths – this after the number of new cases surpassed the 200 mark for four straight days (including 313 on Sept. 14). Most new cases are in Toronto, Peel, Ottawa and York regions.

Some health officials are concerned the rising cases could be a harbinger of the start of the second wave of COVID-19 in Ontario.

Premier Doug Ford has indicated that if the trend continues, the provincial government could consider regional shutdowns in order to curb the spread.