Chatham-Kent's medical officer of health is reassuring the public that the health unit has a recent increase of COVID-19 cases in the municipality under control.
More than half of the local active cases (16 of 27) are connected to a community outbreak at church in Blenheim, but Dr. David Colby credited local public health officials with jumping on that very quickly.
"[We] got all the cases and their contacts isolated, and the number of new cases is slowing considerably," said Dr. Colby. "I think we have this under control, no problem at all."
Dr. Colby added that even though 12 new cases of COVID-19 came in over the weekend, he expects the number of new cases to plateau soon.
"Remember when we were all kind of happy that our numbers were zero, and I said that this situation can change very rapidly," said Dr. Colby. "All it takes is one or two outbreaks, and the numbers jump up."
Dr. Colby still can't say for sure if any of the cases are related to Thanksgiving gatherings, adding that public health officials are still investigating.
"The vast majority have been in the place of worship that was affected, and their immediate contacts," said Dr. Colby. "The workplace outbreak that we have has settled down, and I'll declare that outbreak over very shortly."
As of Tuesday, October 27, there were 401 total cases of COVID-19 in Chatham-Kent, with 371 recovered, three deaths, 27 active cases, and three cases in hospital.
In the meantime, the CK Public Health Unit is still investigating a probable case of COVID-19 that prompted the Lambton Kent District School Board to send 15 students at Chatham-Kent Secondary School home early on Monday. The school is still open and the health unit has been reaching out to any students and staff members who may have come into contact with the possible case of the virus.
A separate order was issued to about 150 individuals over the weekend after dozens of people were potentially exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19 during a blood donor clinic held last week in Chatham.