A Niagara resident who visited their family outside the region to attend a family gathering unknowingly carried COVID-19 with them.
Now, two attendees at the gathering are on ventilators after 75 percent of the attendees contracted the virus.
The situation serves as a sharp reminder that the pandemic is still present in Niagara, and that another spike in infections could be in store for after the holidays, acting medical officer of health Dr. Mustafa Hirji told Thorold News on Tuesday.
"Nothing is zero risk," said Hirji.
"This shows that very innocent social interactions are always a potential risk that the virus could spread. We need to limit our social contacts, I can't stress that enough."
Niagara is seeing, on average, around 20 new cases per day, but in surrounding regions like Waterloo, Halton, Hamilton and Toronto, sharp increases have been noted.
The primary source of infection is still believed to be social contact, which the province has said should only take place within a household.
But judging from recent long-weekends and holidays, another spike is to be expected after Christmas, according to Hirji.
"The province has said that this year we should only celebrate within our household and have the extended family join in via video call. I know that is not the Christmas any of us would like to have, but one we need to have in order to get this under control."
Another risk is shoppers pouring in from surrounding regions with higher case counts, prompting the region to do a thorough follow-up with retail and shopping malls.
Should the numbers increase further, contact tracing might take a hit due to limited capacity, Hirji warned, potentially creating a vicious cycle as the virus continues to spread without proper follow-up.
Eventually, it could reach the person who despite not being in a risk group might end up with serious health issues or even dying.
"It happened in Manitoba, where a ten-year-old boy, unfortunately, died after getting the virus. All deaths we have seen in Niagara have been in people over 50, and most of them above 80, but anybody could be the unlucky one to end up with serious health consequences or not recovering for many months. Even if you are lucky to resolve your infection, you might still have a lasting impact from that."
On Tuesday, NRPH reported 20 new cases and one outbreak.
