KITCHENER -- The Region of Waterloo says a total of five charges have been laid for allegedly not following the province's emergency order.

Chief Administrative Officer Mike Murray delivered the update at the region's Friday news conference.

He says that two people and three businesses have been charged since March 22. The businesses in question were a nail salon, a tattoo parlour and a vape shop.

Murray also says that Kitchener by-law has charged one person. That was a 19-year-old man who had been playing basketball at McLennan Park.

In that case, the man was given a $750 ticket.

Only one charge has been laid by police under the emergency order so far. That happened at a gathering in Cambridge on April 1, where police say one man refused to comply with what police were asking.

That charge automatically comes with a $750 fine, as well.

While some people have been charged, most cases of enforcement have not required a penalty. The region says there have been more than 1,000 other calls that were able to be resolved without a ticket.

Those include:

Site visits resolved by education or warnings: 396

Site visits that required no action: 295

Issues resolved by phone calls: 408

Those are consolidated statistics from public health inspectors, regional and municipal bylaw and regional police.

There are nearly 400 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Waterloo Region. To date, 19 people have died from the virus, while another 24 remain in hospital.

While the increase in the number of cases in the region has slowed slightly—just 20 more cases were reported over the last two days—the pandemic is far from over.

Public health officials say a peak can only be seen in retrospect and, as testing increases, more cases could still be identified. They say it's important not to let our guard down.

Regional officials are echoing a simple message: stay home unless absolutely necessary.