Niagara’s chief medical officer of health says most cases of COVID-19 in Niagara-on-the-Lake are coming from community spread, mainly because of gatherings.

Dr. Mustafa Hirji said looking at NOTL cases in past weeks, the main trends he sees are cases spread within households.

“An initial case brings infection to the home, which then spreads to one to three other members of the household. Over 80 per cent of NOTL cases have been part of households with multiple cases,” he said.

“Several persons have spread COVID-19 after social gatherings with friends. That has spread infection between households, sparking the pattern above.”

NOTL active cases have increased to 17 from 15 over the last few weeks, as cases continue to come down in the rest of the region and across the province. The town has had a total of 529 COVID cases since the pandemic began, regional statistics show.